RoboTech: Darkness Awaits
by theGhostflyer
Summary: Direct sequel to Mars Alight. Recommended you read Alight first. One year after the death of Khyron, a new mystery has come forth. With the threat of the Masters and the renegade Zentradi, Rick and Co must rise to the challenge or all they know will be burned to ash. M for words and inferred adult activities. I don't write lemons. I just hint at them.
1. Chapter 1

On year has passed since the defeat of Khyron and the renegade Zentradi Forces under his command. Humanity and their Zentradi Allies are hard at work rebuilding from the recent string of disasters that had befallen them and the titanic clash between the Allies and Khyron. But they knew that this was only the calm before the storm. In deep space, somewhere out in furthest reaches, a foe set on the capture of a mighty Alien battleforetess, one that crashed on the Earth some fifteen years ago, were on a course for Earth. The second RoboTech war was coming...

-x0x-x0x-x0x-x0x-

General Rick Hunter was pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed and taking a calming breath while Vice Admiral Roy Fokker was starring through the display window with his head cocked and a curious expression on his face. Beside them, Commander Ben Dixon was blinking in disbelief, his jaw partial open while his best friend, Colonel Sterling just shook his head with a sigh. All four men were silent as they tried to figure out just what had happened. Roy, eyes still locked on the strange sight, was the first to speak.

"That shouldn't be possible."

Rick didn't even open his eyes, his irritation flaring. "I know."

"How _did_ he manage that?"

"I don't know." Rick ground out as Ben opened and then closed his mouth, looked skyward before his expression became perturbed. All the while, Max was beginning to mutter threats of retribution that were starting to get very creative.

Roy turned to face Rick, still confused. "Those are bolted to the floor. They aren't supposed to move that far."

Rick gave an aggravated sigh before looking to his brother, his body language showed he was not in a very good mood right now. "I know Roy. I'm not sure how Baker pulled _that_ off. All I know is he did it and I plan to let Ben deal with him."

"Me?" Ben looked at Rick outraged. "He's your pilot!"

"Yeah, but I might kill him for this." Rick smirked. "You're less likely to. Unless you sic Sarah on him."

Ben opened his mouth to retort before he grinned evilly. "Well, considering she's become some kind of violent Amazon now that her due date is coming closer, that might be funny to watch."

The men snorted at the idea of the little redhead going after Baker. It was a very funny image in their minds.

"Speaking of kids, how's the twin's Roy? Roy?" Rick turned back to his brother who was still staring at the strange sight with confusion. "Roy!"

Roy gave a shake of his head before looking to Rick. "They're doing good. Perfect little Angels they are."

"With you as a father?" Rick snorted. "I'm just happy your girls look like Claudia. Can you imagine if some unfortunate child was stuck with your ugly mug?"

Roy glared at his brother as his two friends began snickering. "Keep cracking jokes there wise guy, and I'll cancel your leave request the day of."

"And you know Lisa will kill you for it." Rick smirked as the training room doors began to open. "We'll talk later. I have a pilot to kill."

Roy watched as Rick let his annoyance fade back onto his face as he marched over to a nervous young man that was stumbling out of the room. Not too far behind Rick, a grim faced Ben and a blank faced Max fell in behind Rick. Roy smirked when he saw the young man flinch as Rick began to yell. "Just what the Hell were you thinking Baker?!"

Just another day at the office.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

In the small three bedroom home, Admiral Lisa Hunter was humming along to the radio, enjoying the start to her two week vacation by walking around the house in a pair of old blue jeans, a faded old band tee shirt that she'd stolen from Rick early in their marriage, hair pulled back into a quick bun, and barefooted, swaying a little to the music as Kaylee danced about as well as a one year old could. It was actually very precious as she held tightly onto her stuffed Skull One toy, pacifier in her little mouth. The little one was very quickly mastering locomotion and wanted to walk after her parents instead of being carried. Lisa said it showed she was on her way to becoming a strong and independent person. Rick said she was as stubborn as her mother, wanting to do things herself before she asked for help. Lisa's little music festival was broken as the front door opened and her little one gave a cry for the person who walked in, pacifier clenched in her little hand. "Daddy!"

"Hey Sparky!" Rick greeted his daughter with a tired smile as she hobbled over to him, wanting to be cuddled by her father before she went back to her own little dancing moment. "You been good for your Mom today?"

The toddler grinned as she gave her father a tight, well tight for her, hug. "Dance!"

Rick laughed and twirled around, Kaylee giggling like crazy as Rick finished the spin. Lisa watched the two, amused before she decided to greet her husband. "Well, about time you got home!"

Rick gave her a quick kiss with a smile before placing Kaylee down as the little girl started to whine. "Yeah well...Baker happened."

Lisa resisted the urge to laugh as she had long ago labeled the young pilot as Rick 2.0. He was proving Lisa right.

"What did he do this time?" She asked as she got back to work on dinner. It was her night to cook instead of Rick. The man seemed to pause, trying to figure out how to explain what he saw today, which still boggled his mind.

"He crashed the simulator today." He stated plainly.

Lisa nodded her head absentmindedly. "Yes, I think I heard about that. One tech told me it was like watching a bronco from Hell attempting to hurl the rider off before doing it's demented Yo-Yo impression. How long until the Data Systems team can clear out that program of his?"

"No, Lisa. You're not getting it." Rick sighed and knew how she'd react once he told her. "He crashed it. As in _crashed_. Into a wall as a matter of fact."

Lisa paused before turning to him, the food simmering in the pot, disbelief on her face. "That's not possible."

"I know."

"They're bolted to the ground." She reminded him, her face confused as she processed the information. "Uses the same bolts we use for hull plates."

"I know that." Rick sighed as Lisa cocked her head to the side. He knew it was coming.

"How did he manage to do that?"

"That, I don't know. All I know is one minute it's jumping up and down, the next, it's sailing into a wall." He scratched his head, still trying to figure out how the idiot pulled that off. "We think he messed up a variable in the program by misplacing a decimal point. The simulator didn't like that. Not at all."

Lisa just shook her head before smirking. "He is proving me right."

"Yeah yeah." Rick grumbled as he started to grab the plates to set the table. "Laugh it up Lisa."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"So Max and Ben are dealing with him for this latest moment of genius." Rick spoke as Lisa snuggled into his side on the couch. Kaylee was already asleep and both parents were enjoying some quiet time.

"Wonder what they'll do to get their point across." Lisa remarked with a smirk.

"I don't know about Ben, but Max might poison him." Rick grimaced. "He looked way too happy that Baker was at his tender mercy."

"Do I even want to know?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Remember that lunch Miriya made for him the other day?" Rick questioned. "The one that cleared the mess hall?"

Lisa gave her own grimace at that. "How could I forget. It smelled like three day old roadkill. Did he ever find out what it as supposed to be?"

"Beef Ravioli."

Lisa blinked in confusion. "But it was green."

"I don't know how she managed that. All I know is once the lid came off, half the room began chucking and some even passed out before Max managed to slam the lid back on." Rick gave a confused stare. "And that makes no sense as Miriya can cook with out blowing up the stove...mostly."

They both remembered when she'd tried to bake what she said was a cake and somehow, and interestingly enough, sent the stove airborne and through the roof before it went up like a firework. Miriya still had not told them what she'd used in the cake mixture to induce that effect. Doctor Lang offered her a job with creating new munitions for the RDF and the UEG right after he'd heard about the exploding stove. Lisa's green face indicated she remembered the smell well. "Okay, how does that equate to Max poisoning Baker?"

"Ben joked we could have made Miriya cook and fed it to Khyron after we all recovered from the effects of just smelling it." Rick shivered. "I don't think I'd have even fed him that! That bordered on cruel and unusual. And we both know what I did to him."

"That is saying something."

Rick nodded in agreement "Yup. So anyway, Max got this really weird and disturbing gleam in his eye after he tapped the bowl shut with some duck tape. Asked him what was up and he looked me square in the eye and I kid you not, the most evil grin I have ever seen crossed his face. All he said was 'Baker' and walked off to store that stuff somewhere. Today, right before I left, I heard him cackle and give me a maniacal grin before he headed off towards the storage lockers. We may need to find a new pilot for Skull if Max actually went through with it."

Lisa clamped a hand over her mouth and muffled laughter issued from her as her whole body shook. Rick, however, wasn't smiling as he looked at Lisa with a flat look. "I'm serious. That stuff should be incinerated before he kills someone with it."

Lisa lost it completely at that and had tears streaming down her face. Rick couldn't help but join her in amusement, despite the very real possibility he'd have a dead pilot on his hands. He mentally corrected himself with the reminder that he was on leave for the next two weeks and that Max and Ben would be dealing with Baker. The woman regained her composure and smirked at Rick. He watched as she set down her glass and slipped over to straddle him, her hands bracing herself against the back of the couch. "You know...it has been awhile since we had a quiet night. Up for a work out?"

"You know." Rick began with a smirk. "I'm still surprised at how...forward you can be."

"Well, I blame you for that." She whispered and gave a slight rock. Rick's eyes seemed to flash to a slate black color as he looked up at her own sparkling orbs.

"Me huh?" He drawled, hands placed firmly on her waist. "Pretty sure **you** are a bad influence on me, not the other way around."

"Like any good husband, you'll take the blame for my bad habits." She gave him a kiss, but not before nipping at his bottom lip.

Rick was enjoying this little game and had to admit it had been awhile since they'd had some time to unwind. His only complaint is Lisa always seemed to wear him out.

"Oh I will, will I?" He challenged, his hands running up her sides and made her shiver. "What's in it for me to be the scapegoat?"

Lisa smirked in a rather interesting way and leaned down to whisper into his ear. Rick's eyes went wide and his cheeks flashed red before she sat up straight; her eyes darkening as she felt the effects she was having on him. She almost laughed at how quickly he agreeed to her terms. "Okay. Deal!"

She didn't get a chance to speak again before her husband attacked her neck and they lost themselves in the bliss of the moment.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Max gave a stifled yawn as he looked over the paperwork once more. He grumbled as he checked the order for the simulator repairs and knew the repair crews would be scratching their heads at the whole situation as Simulators weren't known to go airborne...period. He'd had the Data Boys combing through ever line of code and the only problem they found in it was one of the variable was slightly off. But not enough to induce the interesting effect that took place this morning. Which meant that it may have been some kind of crazed computer glitch that sent too much power to the hydraulics that controlled the simulator pod. Which in itself brought a whole new problem for them as it meant they had to do a full check on every system to ensure it didn't happen again. Beside him, Ben groaned and rubbed his tired eyes. "Tell me again why I took this job?"

"Because Rick asked you to." Max reminded him with a smirk. The tall man sighed before resting his chin in his hand.

"And why are we doing the end of shift reports for the entire air wing?"

"Skipper is on leave."

Ben grumbled and yawned before checking his watch. "Well, it's done now. And I'm tired. Call it a night?"

Max nodded and tossed his pen down, flexing his hand as it was starting to feel stiff from the constant paperwork. The two men placed the forms in the outbox and rose to their feet. Ben hit the lights as he grabbed his RDF Windbreaker and followed Max out as the man zipped of his riding jacket and grabbed his bike helmet. "You still planning on killing Baker with your wife's bio weapon?"

Max grinned.

"I haven't decided yet." He admitted with a chuckle. "Skipper might be pissed if he comes back and has to find a new recruit."

"You know," Ben grinned as he spoke, "Baker is a good kid that tries hard. But he's like a younger version of Boss."

Max gave a laugh at that. "You got that right Ben. I still say Rick was much worse."

"He was trying to prove himself." Ben noted. "He had a lot to live up to, being the Admiral's little brother. It makes sense he'd fly like a lunitic."

"And Baker feels he needs to do the same thing." Max remarked as they sent a nod to the night guard when the exited the building into the crisp cold air, heading to their respective vehicles. "He wants to impress us Vets so much he's taking more and more risks. We'll need to talk to him Wednesday about that."

"Agreed. He's a good pilot when he's not trying to impress us. Well, I'll see you tomorrow Max."

"Hey, don't forget to bring the beer for Saturday." Max called out as he slung his leg over his crusier. "Skipper said he'll handle the steaks."

Ben smriked and nodded to his friend as he opened the door to his old truck. "Heh. Saturday is going to be fun. Been awhile since we all got together for a cookout. You drive safe Max and I'll see you tomorrow."

The dark red truck turned over with a rumble and Ben pulled out of the parking spot and headed home while Max fired up the bike that Rick and Ben had schemed together to get him last year. Max loved it and the custom cruiser let out a throaty roar as he throttled the engine and followed Ben to the exit.

-x0x-x0x-

Rick woke to a rapid knocking on his door and groaned as Kaylee came awake with a cry from the crib. The father tossed the comforter clear and rose from the bed, groggily as Lisa began muttering death threats towards whoever it was at the door before she went and picked up the crying toddler, trying to sooth the baby. Rick for his part walked to the door, not even bothering to put on his robe, and yanked it open. His anger was brought up short by the view of Admiral Gloval and Breetai. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"Rick? Who is the dead man at the door." Lisa grumbled as she walked into the front room with Kaylee in her arms and her pacifier in her mouth. Her cheeks flushed as she saw the Admiral at the door, giving her an amused look. "Oh...sorry sir."

Henry gave a dismissive wave before he looked to Rick. "Something has come up that requires your assistance."

Rick heard the tone in his voice and nodded. "Alright sir. I'll get dressed and come with you two."

Lisa gave a resigned sigh and just nodded. This always seemed to happen to them every time they tried to take time off for a family vacation. It was the third time this year they'd been unable to actually enjoy a vacation. She followed Rick back into the bedroom where he began getting dressed.

"This is the third time." She noted dryly.

Rick frowned and looked at her.

"I know Lisa. I know." He tried to calm her irritation, irritation he felt as well. "But you know the Admiral wouldn't come down here if it wasn't something important. Something that couldn't wait."

"I know that Rick." She sighed and gave an upset look. "But I was really looking forward to this. We haven't had any real time together since the honeymoon. We need a break. Together."

Rick rose to his feet, his boots not yet laced and turned to his lovely wife. "And we will. I'll try to get whatever this is done quick. Promise."

"You said the same thing last month." She pointed out. "And instead, you ended up right on the frontlines dealing with the last of the Zentradi terrorizing the populace."

"This time I won't." He gave her a cocky smirk she loved so much. "Besides, Max and Ben are more than capable of handling any problem with out me."

"I told you that too last time." She smiled, seeing his frown.

Rick grabbed his uniform jacket and slipped it on before planting a kiss on Lisa's lips and turned to leave before she stopped him. He looked to her and saw her finger pointing down. He glanced down and gave a frustrated sigh. "I always forget to laces these."

"And end up face first into the door for it." His wife laughed.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick looked at the image on the screen. "Just what am I looking at here Exedore?"

The Zentradi enhanced the image before he spoke.

"It is the original control tower to the battlefortress." He answered, frowning at the display.

Rick raised and eyebrow as he took in the obviously alien design. "Why would it be on the moon? And why didn't we notice it before we started construction on ALUCE? Something that big would have stood out like a sore thumb."

"That's because it only recently crashed there." Henry commented, his pipe smoking away. "From what we can see, it was jettisoned from the rest of the SDF-1 while she was still in hyperspace. Where as the ship continued on until it defolded near the moon, the control tower dropped out much earlier. Which is odd as most objects stay in hyperspace and can't defold on their own."

"So it's just been drifting towards us all this time?" Rick asked in surprise. "I mean, I can see this is important, but I can't see why it's important enough for me to come in while on leave sir."

Henry gave a nod in understanding before he spoke, his voice serious. "It is important General because we believe the information we seek about the protoculture refinery maybe be locked in the computers on that control tower. If it held up to the impact."

Rick's eyes went wide as he realized just what this could mean for them. They'd finally know right where to look.

"I see. That does change everything." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Lisa is going to kill me for breaking my promise again."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa glared at the wall in annoyance. Three times. She gave a sigh and looked back to her daughter who was clapping and laughing as she watched Paw Patrol on TV. Lisa smiled at the sight.

"Well, maybe next time." She muttered as she sipped her coffee. She was really annoyed that Rick had to put his leave on hold, but from what he could tell her over the phone, this was an issue that needed to be handle post haste. Something about it hopefully unlocking the final few secrets of the SDF-1. She turned her attention to the latest reports of the SDF-3, happy to see it was coming along at a steady pace. Her frame was nearing thirty complete and Lisa read up on the recommended systems and armament that would be included. She was concerned with the idea of sticking to the ability for it to transform but it was a rather interesting tactical advantage they had with the SDF-1 and the SDF-2 would have had the same ability.

"Puppy!"

Lisa looked up and saw Kaylee pointing at the screen in happiness. "Yes baby, a puppy."

"Want!" She began to chant.

Lisa gave a laugh and smiled at her daughter. "We'll have to ask your father on that one."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick grunted as he and his team went over the plan once more. "So we will move in with our large friends, secure the wreck, and wait for the crews from ALUCE to arrive on site and set up shop. Questions?"

"Yeah." Ben looked at him, irritated. "Why aren't the lazy bodies on ALUCE handling this?"

"Because all they have are some stripped down Spartans for defense since the primary defense towers went active. First load of Tomahawks and other units won't be ready to leave for another week. If, and that's a big if, there are any surprises in that tower, they won't be able to deal with it." Rick explained. "We all remember the reports from what was found when the SDF-1 was first checked after her crash."

Ben conceded his point, but still didn't look to happy about it. Max just glanced at his friend and shook his head, already knowing why Ben was upset. Sarah was due any day now and Ben didn't want to be away from her despite the red head telling him she understood. And Max already knew why Rick was agitated. "Skipper, I can take command of this and you two can stay here. Sarah is due soon and you haven't had a vacation since your honeymoon."

"Sorry Max, can't stand by on this one." Rick just gave a resigned sigh. "Besides, if you die up there, Miriya will kill me."

"With her cooking or with her hands?" Ben quipped, and they grinned.

"Probably will attempt both." Rick remarked with a grin. "She ever say how the Ravioli turned green?"

Max shook his head.

"She's remaining tight lipped about that." He gave an evil smirk. "I'm still contemplating having Baker eat it."

Rick just stared at his friend. "I think Miriya has corrupted you."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Alright boys, form up and stay close." Rick ordered into his com line. "No telling what kind of surprises we have waiting for us in here."

The flight from the Earth to the moon took a matter of hours for them once they landed on Breetai's Flagship. Now, they were entering the tower, the Human Veritech fighters in their battloid mode. Rick checked the charge on his Particle Gun Pod, the newest weapon in the human arsenal, happy to see it had a full charge. To his right, Ben readied himself to enter the tower himself. _"This should be fun, huh Boss?"_

"Yeah. About as fun as a graveyard." Rick muttered before they entered the tower. "Lights."

Skull One's head lamp snapped on and Rick gave a startled gasp as the head lamp cut a swath through the darkness and he frowned at what he saw. Bodies littered the ground in front of him. Some looked to have been killed by friendly fire while others probably died on impact. Some sixth sense twinged at him and Rick took a cautious step. "Keep your eyes open guys. Something isn't right here."

Rick had no idea how true his words were. Something was waiting in the darkness.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Sarah sighed as she lowered herself onto the couch. "I swear, I can not wait until this back pain is over with!"

The gathered woman laughed as the little red head rubbed her swollen belly. Miriya held little Dana in her lap as the child clapped happily, watching her friend Kaylee build a small tower out of blocks before knocking it over. Lisa had a feeling her daughter was doing it on purpose as every time she did, she looked to the little Sterling with a toothy smile. Bouncing around on the floor, the Fokker Twins were using the time honed butt shuffle to move towards the stuffed toys themselves as little Bowie kept his eyes locked on the TV, gurgling at the child's program. "Just wait Sarah. At this point, even after Kaylee goes down for a nap, I still find myself watching Paw Patrol just to see what happens."

The mothers laughed as one while Lisa grinned with embarrassment.

"I'll take that over the back pain." The young woman said, deadpanned. "Speaking of pains, anyone know where our husbands are? All Ben would say is they had a top secret mission."

"Roy said something similar this morning." Claudia spoke from her spot beside Lisa. "Said it was important and he couldn't say anymore. I just hope whatever it is, they're okay."

"Roy will be safe in the command center. I'm more worried about the crazy man I call my husband." Lisa stated. "And seeing as Max and Ben have been taken for the ride as well, I just hope those three will use their common sense this time."

"Common sense and those three don't go together." Sarah countered with a smile.

"Valid point." Lisa laughed.

"Max told me it could help figure out a mystery with the SDF-1." Miriya stated, a thoughtful look on her face. "If it is indeed related to the fortress, we can't really blame them for the secrecy. Not with the threat of the Masters over our heads."

"True enough Miri." Lisa agreed before she sighed. "I just wish that some disaster or strange discovery didn't happen every time Rick and I have tried to take time off together. I was really looking forward to a family vacation."

"You two have been working yourselves to the bone." Claudia noted with a studying eye. "And we all know how much you two alone have deserved some time off."

Lisa nodded in agreement as the room fell silent before Jean gave a smirk and looked to Miriya. "By the way...I had a rather interesting patient this morning. One courtesy of you."

Miriya gave her a confused look.

"I have not hurt anyone since the last sparring accident."

All the women winced as the remembered the accident. Max had told Miriya not to hold back and she went full force. He ended up with a concussion and a healthy respect for his wife's prowess in unarmed combat. When he asked her about it the day after, seeing how he had managed to get the better of her before, she admitted to taking a few classes and combining Human fighting with Zentradi. The fusion was definitely effective as Max could attest to.

"No, not a physical injury. Well, maybe it could be considered one." Jean rolled her eyes before her smirk widened. "I had to pump Jack Baker's stomach this morning. When I asked what he ate, he said he found some kind of green pasta in his locker from a certain Colonel Sterling."

Lisa's eye bulged as her face flashed with surprise and the others winced. Sarah's face was green as Miriya looked to Jean in confusion. "That sounds like the lunch I made for Maximilian two days ago. I do not see how Baker managed to get some as Max told me he ate it all and he was fine."

Lisa shook her head and turned to Miriya, the Zentradi woman still confused.

"Miri...Max didn't eat it." She explained, trying not to recoil under the narrowed eyes of the green haired woman. "When he opened it, well, let's just say it cleared the chow hall rather quickly."

Looking hurt, Miriya looked to her daughter in her lap, "Why would he lie to me about that? I know I am not the best cook, but he knows he can be honest with me."

"Max didn't want to hurt your feelings." Claudia spoke gently, with a small smile. "He knows how hard you try. Roy was the same way when I started cooking. He never complained even when I knew it wasn't the best tasting thing in the world."

"I did the same to Rick when he was starting out too." Lisa's face took on a nostalgic look. "He was pretty good at basic stuff and could follow the directions for the more intricate dishes, but when he tried to go beyond his abilities that one time..."

Claudia began to laugh as Lisa shuddered at the memory. "I remember that horrible smell! I thought you had a sewage leak or something!"

"Max was being a good and supportive husband Miriya." Jean spoke from her place, amused as Lisa let out a short laugh. "Trust me, it's actually normal for a husband to praise your cooking even if it kills him. Though that green pasta could be classed as a bioweapon at this point."

The Zentradi woman looked thoughtful before she smiled as the others laughed in good humor. "If you say it is expected behavior, then I will not bring it up. But still, it tasted fine to me."

The woman laughed as Lisa just smirked. Miriya must have a cast iron stomach

"I do have to ask though." Lisa looked seriously at her friend. "How did you turn it green?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick frowned as he continued forward, eyes alert as they made their way through the silent tower, unease filling his being. "This is a tomb."

 _"Yeah. It's giving me the creeps."_ Ben remarked, _"Something just feels...wrong in here."_

 _"Agreed."_ Max looked nervous as the came to a large room that was glowing a ghostly blue. The three humans entered and what they saw shocked them. After a moment of complete silence, Rick was the first to speak.

"Well...that's new." Rick remarked with a feeling of dread.

Before them sat a massive metal beast Rick recognized as a Bioroid, but much more heavily armored. The hulk turned to them and braced itself, making it's intentions clear. At least this time the damned thing wasn't using a body as a puppet like what had happened to one unfortunate solider when teams were sent to investigate the crashed SDF-1.

"This is going to be interesting." Rick muttered as he readied himself. "Let's get this over with!"

The beast moved and the battle was joined.

* * *

 **Okay, I lied. Sequel is up and coming along. Updates will be slow and the time line is more...extending as I came across some interesting information about the SDF-1 from the graphic novels and such. Bioroids on the SDF-1 using a soldier's body as a puppet? Yep, actually happened. Anyway, this tale will focus more on the time frame skip from the Macross Saga to the Launch of the Pioneer. I will have the Masters arrive later in the story, but the bigger fight coming will be with the Crystal War that we only saw in one issue. The first few chapters here will deal with some opening growth of the characters and obviously some information on what's been happening since the End Of Mars Alight. Anyway, drop a reivew and enjoy guys! This ride is looking to be even wilder than the last and a bit darker than we've seen.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 More than a Secret...

Rick rolled away as the Bioroid rushed Skull One, the old girl still as nimble as the day she was made, and came up in a crouch, the gun pod strobing as he let loose with particle gun fire. Ben and Max were already in motion, making to flank the beast. They all remembered the reports that read over as part of the required reading during training about the SDF-1 and all of the automated defenses that had been encountered. Expected ones such as turrets and computer hard locks. But the worst had been the Bioroids. Tall as a Zentradi and twice as mean from what they could figure out. The UEG hadn't been able to study any as once one fell, it self destructed, taking with it any information they could gleam from it. All they knew is that it took overwhelming firepower at the time to drop one. The others had to be lured out of the mighty fortress for the A-10s to lay into with their .30 Tank Killers they had tucked in their bodies. Rick winced as the Mecha spun to face him, black scorch marks dotting it's armored hide. "Oh crap. Think I pissed it off!"

The Bioroid gave a deep growl as it took a step towards Rick, the weapons attached to it's body began glowing a hellish red before a missile slammed into it, sending it crashing to the deck on it's right side. Rick snuck a quick look and spotted Ben's Battloid shifting to bring the pod to bare. "Let's hit this bastard together!"

The three human fighters unleashed a deadly storm of energy blasts into the downed monster, smoke from the sheer amount of impacts obscured it from sight before it blasted from the smoke and slammed hard into Skull. Rick grunted from the impact and reacted as fast as he could to recover.

"Why am I always they one they tackle?" Rick demanded as Skull's metal fist collided with the monster's armored head.

The blow gave Rick the chance he needed to get away as Max opened fire, distracting the Mecha long enough for Rick to get clear. He could have sworn he heard an enraged growl issue from it as he charged Max. It didn't get far before Ben slammed into it, his boosters blazing a bright blue and sent the beast crashing into the bulkhead. _"This guys isn't going down easy Boss. Any ideas?"_

"Yeah, don't die." Rick snarked.

 _"Yeah, already planned on that."_ Ben shot back. _"Any idea how to kill this thing?"_

 _"The head armor took a good hit Skipper. Think that may work?"_ Max asked as he leapt clear from an attempted rush. _"This thing is fighting like it's feral or something."_

"Concentrate on the head and hope once it's gone, hulk here drops."

His men flashed their agreement and as one, the humans aimed their weapons at the hulking beast's head and let loose with particle fire. It gave a loud roar before the head finally went up in an explosion as power relays overloaded. It fell to the deck with a final twitch, unmoving after it dropped. Rick eyed it cautiously before he deemed it truly dead. "Well...that was...anticlimactic."

 _"You seriously wanted that fight to last longer?"_ Ben demanded with disbelief. _"Boss, I think you've been around Baker too long."_

"Hey, that's a low blow Ben." Rick growled. "All I meant was that seemed too easy. Something is going to go sideways soon enough."

 _"I really hope you're wrong Skipper."_ Max stated as they turned to the still glowing computer. _"Because for once, I'd really like a mission to go as smoothly as it appears to."_

Rick gave a slight nod and activated the audio communications to the Zentradi Units that entered from the other side. "Starscream, report."

 _"Things go well Skull One. We've come across more bodies much like you did. However, no hostile contacts yet."_ The big man replied.

"Understood. Stay alert though. We just got a warm welcome from a Bioroid." Rick informed him. "Thing fought like a wounded animal."

 _"That is a sign that whatever is controlling it has degraded to a more base instinct."_

"You think maybe one of the crew is still alive?" Rick asked with a surprised expression. "I guess fourteen years in this tomb could drive anyone left here alone crazy."

 _"Perhaps. We are moving to the primary sensor compartment and will see if we can scan the remains for life."_

"Roger. We'll see about accessing the back up computer from here." Rick replied, turning to face the glowing console. "Looks like someone left it logged in."

 _"Good luck Human. Starscream out."_

Rick closed the channel and walked to the controls, staring at them as he tried to make out the words. The built in computer in Skull had a base line translation program on it that could help him read the basic Zentradi language, but the program couldn't make out what was written on the screen. Which meant it was possibly the Masters language. "Well there is a comforting thought."

Rick toggled to the command channel and waited for Exedore to answer. Moments later, the more human like Zenrtadi appeared, his face showing his inquisitive stare. _"Yes General? Have you found something?"_

"You could say that. A bioroid was standing guard over this console." Rick reported, his brow furrowed. "Can you make out any of this?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Hmm..." Exedore cupped his chin and eyed the script before him with some concern. "It looks to be a derivative of Ancient Tirolian. Much of it I can not make out, however...oh dear."

Roy cocked and eyebrow at the pale faced man as Exedore seemed to freeze. Rick was also eyeing him in concern. Roy gave a short cough before placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "What is it Exedore? What does it say?"

Exedore's eyes seemed to go unfocused as he looked skyward.

"Unless I have mistranslated, the Bioroid sent out a distress call to the RoboTech Masters upon impact with the moon." He looked to Roy who had gone ridged from shock. "We may be in grave danger if they have been alerted to our location."

"You aren't kidding." Roy muttered, recovering from his shock. "Rick, get that wreck secured and do it fast. You'll remain on station until we can move it to Mars Base Olympus."

Rick eyed his brother over the com. _"As long as you're not sending me there with it, I can do that. You know I don't like that place."_

"Don't worry. I promised you and Lisa that you'd both remain off that particular dust ball." Roy reminded him. "Just get the job done, aright?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The crash site was swarming with both Humans and Zentradi as they began the process of sealing the wreck so as to ensure it could hold an atmosphere, allowing them to work with out the need for pressure suits which could be cumbersome. Rick watched with crossed arms as a few Zentradi dragged the body of the Bioroid out and dropped in onto a freight lifter for transport back to ALUCE, a station dedicated to scientific research and development. Not to mention it allow compartmentalization should something go wrong. His communications panel kicked on to show the face of Doctor Byron, a level headed and decent man. _"All set here General. Thanks for clearing this thing for us."_

"No problem Doctor." Rick grinned. "It's what they pay me to do."

 _"Go diving into crashed alien space craft a lot I take it?"_ The man joked.

Rick laughed and signed off before checking his systems before hailing the Zentradi ship that had given them a lift. Normally, a Veritech could make the jounrey themselves, but Rick wanted to stretch his legs. Also, Lang warned him against over taxing the Veritech again. He'd almost completely fired Skull during his battle with Khyron. "Hey, Starscream, mind giving us a lift?"

 _"Our prices are not cheap."_ The bald Zentradi grinned at Rick through the panel and Rick just chuckled.

"You can bill me later. We'll be on board in a couple minutes so don't leave without us!"

The Zentradi laughed and Rick flicked his com over to Max and Ben. "You guys ready to get home?"

 _"Boss, as much as I'd love too, I have to ask why we aren't staying as a guard?"_ Ben asked, surprised. The Old Rick would have been chomping at the bit to find out just what secrets this wreck held, including why the Bioroid managed to shrug off so much damage before it finally succumbed.

"Three reasons Bruiser." Rick began as they took of from the surface. "One, our objective here was to secure the wreck and post guard until the Science teams moved in. Check. Second, it could take months before they actually manage to find anything of value in the database if it's not too damaged."

 _And what's three Skipper?"_ Max smirked. _"It better not be to check up on Baker!"_

Rick snorted. "Yeah right. Baker may be an idiot, but he's not stupid enough to eat green pasta. No, the third reason is because I promised Lisa that this time, we'd have the family vacation."

Ben and Max smirked as they shifted forms to fighter mode and followed their lead towards the Zentradi ship, their exhaust kicking up a small dust cloud that obscured the surface from view.

 _"Been meaning to ask Skipper, but did you heard what Colonel Leonard was trying to push through?"_

"If you mean a militarization of a civilian lunar base, than yes. I did." Rick scowled. "He's a decent officer but his win-or-die mindset will end up getting a lot of good people killed. He just doesn't understand that sometimes you can win more fights with words than bullets."

 _"Makes me glad the Admiral stuck around."_ Ben remarked seriously. _"Can you imagine what it would have been like if he wasn't?"_

"I try not to Ben." Rick answered. "Some of his comments worry me. Especially as he is completely against the SDF-3's mission. Hell, he tried to steamroll over us to get the SDF-2 pegged for Earth Defense only."

 _"I don't think he likes any alien species. Even our allies."_ Max's own face had a frown on it as he disliked the man for some rather pointed comments about the Zentradi, specifically that no one should even marry one. Rick couldn't prove it, but he knew Leonard would rather see Miriya behind bars or dead and Dana on a dissection table. The three fell into silence as they rapid approached the hanger, looking forward to going back home to their loved ones.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Another failure."

The Masters looked at the brain dead clone with frowns. They could not understand why every time they came close to a viable clone, the brain began to fail at a rapid pace. "It seems we are nearing the end of our attempt."

"We can not fail here, brother." The middle spoke in a resigned voice. "If we do, we lose the secrets to Protoculture forever. And the Invid will finally take the victory they have been denied for so long."

"It may be best to focus our efforts on the capture of the Fortress." The left most being stated. "We have a more accurate fix on the systems location."

"Indeed. And a visual record of the human Mecha." The right one rubbed his chin in thought. "Impressive beings, but their power will be of no match to ours. We will take the Matrix. And their planet will either serve us, or burn."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Baker stared at the wall of the break room, his sullen mood casting storm clouds over his head.

"Why would the Colonel try to kill me like that?"

"Maybe it's because you're an idiot." Karen snarked from her place in front of the TV. "You always screwing around."

Baker opened his mouth to retort before he closed it and went back to glaring at a wall. Looking between her two wingmen, Sue sighed and wondered when they'd grow up and act like adults. Besides, she highly doubted the Colonel tried to poison him. She'd warned him not eat it, especially as it smelled like three day old road kill. And was green. Baker said it smelled fine to him. "Jack, I think you've been trying to hard."

Surprised, the young man turned to the other member of his team.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," She began slowly, "You are always trying to impress Boss. And it usually ends up in disaster. I think you need to just relax and be yourself."

"But, I don't want them to think I'm useless." He muttered dejectedly. "I want them to see me as more than just some wet behind the ears kid that hasn't cut his teeth in combat yet."

"Which describes you to a T Baker." Karen sighed, rising to her feet. Baker watched as she approached and felt his cheeks flush as she stopped before him, crossing her arms across her not so small bust. "You better listen closely and commit what I am about to say to memory Baker. Because I will not say it again and will deny I ever did. We clear?"

He was still trying to keep from passing out from how much his head was spinning. It was not secret he had a crush on her. "Crystal."

She study him for a moment before she spoke.

"When you aren't acting like a complete idiot with your attempts to impress out superiors, you are a decent pilot and a decent wingman." She paused and her eyes narrowed. "You're focing yourself to fight."

"But...isn't that what we are supposed to do?" He asked, confused.

"I don;t mean fight as fight an enemy you moron!" She rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. "I mean, you are fighting your own instincts. A big part of flying is relying on your instincts. When you put your ego first, your making yourself deaf to your instincts. And each time you do that, you end up shot down in a blaze of stupidity. I've seen how you fly when you leave your ego on the ground. Stop handicapping yourself by acting like a buffoon and just be yourself. Respect is earned over time Baker. Not overnight. You want the respect of your fellow pilots, prove yourself. Now, I'm going to bed."

Baker watched her leave, his mind flooded as he thought about what she had said. Maybe she was right. He had been putting his ego first. Maybe...yeah, tomorrow, he'd push aside his own bruised ego and just fly like a pilot should. Sitting back and watching with a pleased smile, Sue's voice reached his ears. "I knew you two could be civil!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Ben quietly closed the door behind him, sighing as he enjoyed the feeling of home. Turning to the front room, he spotted his pregnant wife fast asleep on the couch, and a loving smile crossed his face. While he was getting more and more nervous as her pregnacy drew near the end, he couldn't help but feel excited to meet his own little one. He and Sarah had talked for hours about names and hopes for their little girl. Seeing her sleeping on the couch, Ben silently made a vow to her and the baby that they would have a future they deserved.

 _"I should probably get her into the bedroom. The couch isn't too comfortable."_ He gave a wince as he realized that would mean waking her. _"Oh I hope she's not going to pummel me for waking her up."_

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa rubbed her eyes tiredly as she walked into the living room and gave a soft sigh as she spotted Rick laying on the couch, Kaylee asleep on on his chest. The little one had her thumb in her mouth, completely oblivious to the light snore from her father. Being as gentle as she could, Lisa lifted the toddler off Rick's chest and smiled as Kaylee gave a slight whimper and opened her blue eyes slowly to see her Mother's smiling face. Lisa's smiled quickly turned to a frown as she felt the child's soggy diaper and sighed before looking down to Rick. She had to fight back giggles as she gently shook his shoulder. "Huh? Wha? What time is it?"

She watched as he let out a small stretch and looked at his watch. "Almost eight. And you may want to change your shirt."

Rick looked down at his black tee shirt and gave an annoyed snort before looking at his smiling daughter.

"She peed on me again."

She couldn't help herself as a laugh bubbled out of her and Kaylee just blinked at Rick, still waking up. Her father groaned and made his way to the bedroom, but not before stealing a kiss from his wife, and decided a shower was in order. He'd gotten back home late yesterday after giving his brief to Gloval and Roy. Both had been concerned about the distress call, which did make Rick feel uneasy. He only hoped this would help pull in more funding for the RDF so they could actually build a fleet to protect their still healing world. Giving a sigh, the young mother made her way to the bed room and set to work getting the baby changed. With a smug smirk, Lisa picked up the little girl as she once again, completed the task in record time. Rick was still baffled how to open a diaper one handed. She giggled as she came to the conclusion that Kaylee would be in pull ups by the time he mastered that trick.

"Well, at least until the next one." She corrected herself with a small smile.

"The next what?"

She turned and spotted Rick walking out of the bathroom, running a towel over his head as he held the other securely in his grip. She just smiled and told him to get dressed, she'd handle breakfast today. Though she wondered how he could shower so quickly.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Alright Baker." Max sighed once more as he looked over the computer screen. "Give it one more run alright? You're doing good."

The young man's annoyed face appeared on screen. "Sir, how many times do we have to run the Macross Island simulation?"

Max closed his eyes and took a calm breath. Normally, Max was pretty easy going but even he had limits and Baker was pushing pretty close to the limit. His blue eyes opened and narrowed on the young Sergeant.

"We will run them until I feel satisfied with the results." Max glared at the man. "Now, do you want to keep up this argument or will you just run the simulation?"

Baker sighed and nodded his head as the communications channel closed. Ben was watching with a critical eye. He had, after all, been one of the primary instructors for one Jack Baker and knew what the kid was capable of. "You're pushing too hard Max. His sim runs are far above the norm. Hell, even the Admiral was impressed with how well he handled the Factory Assault."

Max looked to his friend and gave a nod.

"That maybe so Ben. And yes, he is good." Max admitted before he frowned. "But he's cocky. He'll get himself killed if he doesn't reign it in."

Ben nodded absently as he watched the display, mentally critiquing Baker's performance. "You've got a point. Hey, did you catch that report about the new fighters?"

Max leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head.

"Yeah. The Alphas look pretty on paper, but I know Rick and the Admiral will go through the roof once Lang tells them he needs to dismantle Skull One to get the Alpha program going." Max just shook his head. "I'm not sure why though. Granted, it one of the oldest serving Valkyries we have, so I guess it could show how much abuse it can take before it finally just fails out. But still..."

"Skull has become sort of the mascot for us." Ben interjected. Max nodded his head.

"Anytime that VF shows up, morale takes a huge boost." Max turned in his hair and placed his hands on his knees. "You take Skull out, you lose an advantage."

Ben remained silent as he considered Max's point and gave a shrug. "You have a point Max. But even Lang said she was a prototype. Never intended for a long service life. I'd rather have her pulled apart then go up in flames with Boss behind the controls because of some defect she may have."

Max grimaced and got Ben's point. "Okay, when you put it that way, it could be far worse. Still...to retire her. Seems too soon."

"That I can agree with." Ben glanced towards the display again to see Baker pulling off a rather impressive move that allowed him to nail six Gnerl fighters in quick succession. "Heard the decommissioning is in two days."

"Still too soon for my liking."

"Like all good things Max." Ben remarked sadly before the caught a beeping noise from the console. Max activated the console and Miriya's face appeared on the screen. "You ready Miri?"

The Zentradi woman gave a feral grin that made Ben wince. "Of course Max."

"Go easy on the idiot, alright?" Max cautioned her. She only smirked and the com cut off.

"She's not going to go easy, is she?" Ben asked.

"Nope."

"Isn't that a bit unfair to the kid?"

Max grinned. "Nope. Maybe this will help to deflate his ego some."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick ran a hand over the nose of his fighter, sadness in his eyes as the old girl seemed to know the end was here for her. Emil had explained that he needed the stress analysis data of VF-1S to help with the Advanced Veritech Fighter Program and the only way to do so was to dismantle the old girl and test her parts at a molecular level. Rick hated it. It felt like he was losing a part of his family. Someone who had been with him through it all. He sighed and gave her one final pat, a lone tear slipping from his eyes as Vince began the final procedure to bring her to a fully shut down state.

"Well, looks like this is it." Rick remarked with a forlorn smile. "You've been a good friend. We've done a lot together. You've brought me home every time since I took the controls. Sorry to see this day come."

He could swear he felt her protest to the plan, a sorta of low hum as the reactor had it's fuel source removed. His heat broke as the final power connection was pulled and with a low, weak hum, Skull One, VF-1S, was fully and completely shut down. Wiping his eyes, Rick turned and left the Hanger and saw the sadden face of his wife, his friends, and his brother. Each of them owed their lives to that plane. It had done so much for them. Hearing the low rumble, Rick spun on his heal and raised a salute to an old friend. The people gathered around him, his family, all gave a respectful salute as Four Veritechs from Skull Squadron gave a final pass over her hanger. Rick lowered his salute as Emil Lang stepped over to him. Rick looked the man in the eye, still not happy about the unfitting end to such a fine fighting machine. "You make sure this is worth it Doctor."

"It will be General, of that, I assure you."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy walked quietly through the halls of the RDF headquarters situated in Monument City with a frown. Three weeks had passed since Rick and his men had successfully secured the wrecked control tower of the SDF-1, and he'd just recently finished the preliminary reports that had been sent to him. From what little they could gleam, when Zor sent the fortress away after being fatally injured during some kind of revenge attack by the every mysterious Invid, he had never activated the defense systems. After speaking with Exedore this morning, the Zentradi had speculated that the redundant memory core had become corrupted after the tower was jettisoned. This fit so far as the eggheads up on the Moon stated a remote shutdown command had been sent from who they guessed was the Masters. As to why the tower was separated from the ship instead of the whole vessel dropping from hyperspace, they didn't know. Roy gave an annoyed sigh as his temper flared for the fifth time this week. Between the decommissioning of VF-1S and this recent unwanted surprise, it made sense he was feeling his nerves fray.

"Just another day I guess." Roy muttered as he entered his office. The rather simple room didn't really contain much for an Admiral. A few photos sat proudly on the desk as the warm, inviting sunlight spilled in through the massive floor to ceiling windows. A few models doted the shelves along with awards and his promotion warrants as well. All in all, a rather spartan office. This wasn't on the blonde man's mind as he made his way to the computer terminal and dropped into his office chair deep in thought.

 _'If that Bioroid was being remotely controlled by the Masters, then we are actually in some serious trouble.'_ he thought as he spun his chair around until he could see the grand view of the bustling city. _'This whole thing has set up written all over it. Maybe we should postpone the Pioneer's mission. For all we know, the Masters are already on their way.'_

Roy gave a tired sigh before his office door opened, breaking him from his thoughts. Looking up, he spotted the reflection of his father. "Hey Pop."

Mitch leaned against the door frame and watched his oldest, his graying beard hiding his face as it always had.

"Any news on your wonder toy?"

Roy snorted. "Yeah, and none of it good."

The Admiral turned his chair and motioned for the seat across from him. Mitch gave a short nod before taking his seat and leaned backwards, the chair groaning as it did so.

"Anything you can share?" The old man asked I with a level tone.

"A lot of it is still classified." Roy sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "But let's just say that the first report doesn't exactly put my mind at ease."

"It's about those crazy Masters, isn't it?"

"Righ in one Pop. I can't help but feel we're playing right into their hands." He admitted softly. "It seems for every move we make, something pops up and sets us back five."

Mitch nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it can feel like that."

"I just don't know what to do. We need the Trip to find the Masters and try to find a peaceful option for us." Roy frowned before lacing his fingers together. "On the other, with the amount of fire power she's being slapped with will be a huge boon for us. Especially if they come knocking sooner than we expect."

"Damned if you do, damned it you don't." Mitch commented. "You talked to Henry about your thoughts on this?"

Roy gave a small shake of his head. "No. I'm going to sit down with Admiral Gloval tomorrow during our meeting and lay out my worries. See what he says. Maybe he'll see something I'm not."

"True. At least the fleet is taking shape." Mitch commented as he laced his hands behind his head, squiring as the sun sank lower in the sky. "Tristar looked nearly finished."

"She is. Shakedown is set for next month." He gave a small grin. "It's going to be one hell of a surprise."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Doctor Byron looked over the Bioroid before him, amazed at how complex this machine truly was. It operated in away they couldn't yet understand. From the reports written by Doctor Miles Cochrane and his colleague, Doctor Sampson Beckett, the bioroid was in fact piloted by a highly telepathic being unless the pilot was wired directly into the mecha. At that point, it functioned like a power suit This one however, appeared to be of a level beyond the few they had managed to recover. Some were calling it a Commander where as Byron preferred to label it as a Type III.

"Doctor?"

Byron shook his head breifly before peering at his assistant with a questioning look. "Yes?"

"You seemed to have spaced out for a minute sir." The young lady stated, her gaze worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I am quite fine." He smiled gently, thankful for her concern. "I was merely pondering if we can somehow apply this technology in some way to our own mecha."

The Doctor took one final look at the beast laying on the tabel before his eyes narrowed and he glanced to his assistant.

"Can you contact Doctor Lang? Tell him it is an urgent matter."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Emil looked to the screen in sheer amazement. "This...this could help us fix the issues we are having with the Prototypes."

 _"I thought so too."_ Byron spoke up as an internal scan appeared, showing the overlapping strands of what looked to be bioorganic circuitry packed in tightly as if they were muscles of the Bioroid. _"While the actually stimuli for this Mecha is currently unknown to us, the way it is constructed shows it can be used as a power suit. With that being the case, we can possible adapt this to our own advanced designs."_

"Perhaps." Emil storked his chin, the computer screen the brightest light in the room at present. "We are years away from applying this, but if we can at least duplicate it to a less complictaed manner..."

 _"The Cyclones will truly be a force to reckon with."_

"Maybe Doctor." Emil corrected with a frown. "Even with this incredible discovery, they would still lack the ability to fight on even ground with any Zentradi The Masters may bring with them."

 _"That is true Emil, but think of it this way."_ Byron countered. _"In every engagement, our ground forces have had to rely on the Air Wing and Armored Divisions to combat any hostile action taken by the Zentradi over the course of the last five or so years. While not giving them the same edge as say a Veritech or a Tomahawk, the Cyclone can be useful as a scout and a raider force."_

Emil's frown deepened as he took in the Doctor's words. It was a very true statement, but Emil didn't want to place as much faith as others on such a temperamental design that was still one the drawing board. "Byron, the Cyclones may only be a pipe dream. We must think of uses for this in the Advanced Veritech Research Program at the moment. If we do move beyond the design stage for the Cyclone, we can revist this idea then. Until then, we shall move our efforts fully to the database that was recovered."

Byron looked ready to protest before he sigh and looked at Emil in annoyance. _"Very well. I shall shelve this topic for now. Good day, Doctor Lang."_

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Byron scowled at the screen and leaned back in his chair, his mind racing. He understood the need for the AVRP, truly he did. But to pass up on a possible edge for their survivial? No...Byron did not agree. Perhaps...

"I wonder if Anatole is awake?" He pondered, his fingers tapping on the desk before him. "I'm quite sure he would be able to put this information to use rather than let it gather dust in some dingy corner of a records room."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick turned his head, curious as the cell phone began to vibrate wildly on the end table. Lisa glanced at him as Kaylee went about watching the Lion King, one of her favorite Disney movies. When questioned why Rick even watched it, he said it was only because Kaylee enjoyed it so much. They all knew the truth even if he tried to hide it. After a moment of Rick just looking to the device in a sepculative way, Lisa nudged him with her shoulder. "Are you going to answer that?"

He glanced at her with a thoughtful expression.

"I don't know yet. The last thing I want is a phone call telling me something else has gone wrong, or a new disaster is heading towards us."

Lisa rolled her eyes and made to grab the phone herself, but Rick caught her hand before he finally answered. He noted Ben's name, but the Super Mario ringtone gave it away. "Where's the fire Ben?"

Rick winced and pulled the phone from his ear as he heard a Ben's frantic voice yelling at him. _"Baby! Now! Sarah!"_

Rick gave the phone a confused stare before putting it back to his ear, Lisa had her eyes narrowed and her head cocked to the side in thought. "Ben, please tell me you didn't pocket dial me during...uh..."

He noticed Lisa's pointed look and sighed as Ben replied.

 _"No! Sarah is going into labor!"_ Ben was panicking. _"What do I do?"_

From the other side of the line, Rick snickered as he heard the irritated voice of one Sarah Dixon. _"First, calm down you spaz! Second, it's labor, not a homicide. Third, get your pants on and take me to the hospital you putz!"_

Lisa snorted, her own mind going back to Rick's own frantic phone call the day Kaylee was born. At the time, she hadn't really paid it much mind, but now, it was a funny story to tell. Rick smiled at Lisa as he spoke into the phone.

"You just follow the directions from your wife buddy. I'll call Max and we'll all meet you at the hospital."

 _"Okay! Sarah! Wait! I still have to get my pants on!"_

The phone clicked off and Rick gave a chuckle as Lisa rose to her feet and got Kaylee ready to leave. She had, after all, promised her friend she'd be there for her own baby being born. Rick was quickly tapping Max's name in the contacts and waited as the phone began to ring. After a moment, Max's easy going voice answered.

 _"What can I do for you Skipper?"_

"Hey Max." Rick greeted, still snickering at what he heard over the phone. "Ben just called."

 _"Yeah, I know. Sarah is in labor."_ Rick could almost hear the eye roll from his Second in Command. _"I saw his rather short update on Facebook. Miriya is already getting Dana ready."_

"Wait, he posted it already?" Rick was surprised before he frowned. "Why didn't I get a notification?"

A split second later, the phone pinged at him and he took a look before he frowned. "Never mind. Just came through. We'll see you at the hospital."

Rick closed his phone and grabbed his car keys as Lisa exited the bedroom, carrying a grumpy looking toddler. Kaylee hated being changed out of her Flight Suit pajaymas once she was in them, but Rick knew that once she was grown and saw the pictures, she'd be forever gratful her parents would save her that embarrassment. Not that they didn't already have enough. "Are the two most important women in my life ready to go?"

"No." Kaylee grunted out, pouting.

Rick just laughed and the Hunter family headed out the door to go welcome the newest member of their family.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, so I'm setting up the story line here in the next two chapters before I start getting to the nitty gritty of the rebuilding of the fleets and things they discovered in the crashed tower. Something to note, in the Macross Saga, no one knows why the original tower was jettisoned from the SDF-1. Kind of a cool thing to play with. Don't worry, it won't break the timeline, but it will make it a bit easier for them to deal with the coming threat. Something Fer and I discussed in Alight was how each Generation of ship put out by the RDF and the REF seemed to be ill equiped to take on each new threat. Now, I'm not saying they'll have super ships or anything, but more well balanced ones that don't die as quickly.**

 **And andrewjameswilliams, from the information i came across, you are mostly correct that the Masters didn't use Bioroid too much but Zor did. But yeah, you guessed it. And yes, Byron and Leonard will have a slight antagonistic role in this tale, but the main baddies are still to come. I'm thinking an old friend would stop by to say hello later in the arc.**

 **Also, the scrapping of VF-1S, also known as Skull Lead was in the original timeline, broken down in 2015 to help with the development of the later generation Veritechs and such. As for the Cyclone mention in this chapter, again, setting the stage for their eventually inclusion into the story. So no, Max won't be doing a wheelie down main street or anything like that. And no, the Playboy Bunny Hovertank isn't going to come strutting in this soon either. The current Gen Mecha are still good enough to handle most problems. And cjusa1234, oh yes, the VB-6 will most definitely be used here! Any big guns that go boom are always going to find it's way into my story. BTW, sscaldwe, hope your feeling better!**

 **Well, hope you enjoyed it and yes, the action wasn't very long, but trust me, I have a lot of in between material to cover that will make it so worth the wait. Please drop a review or I'll bring back Khyron just to spite you all!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Feel Invincible?

"Are your men ready?"

The man nodded his head, eyes not leaving his superior. "Yes My lady. We can move with in the next day."

"Very well. Make sure the information reaches me. We must set the stage for the Crystal Fleet's arrival." She spoke in a soft tone. "Only then will we avenge the losses we have suffered. We will avenge Khyron!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The sunlight crept into the room and slowly made it's way to illuminate one Lisa Hunter as she slept. Scrunching up her face, the woman turned away from the sunlight, trying to remain asleep as long as she could. He ears picked up the sound of twin foot steeps, ones very light, the others were louder but still muffled as if someone was trying to sneak up on her. Her mind was put at ease as she heard the voice she loved so well whispering. "You gotta keep quiet Kaylee or it'll ruin the surprise."

She rolled over and cracked one green eye open to see Rick stop suddenly, a sheepish look crossing his face as he held a small tray in his hands. "It helps if you're quiet too Rick."

"Well, guess we got busted Sparky!" Rick laughed as his wife stretched with a yawn and turned her gaze to what she now recognized as a breakfast tray. Lisa merely raised an eyebrow as her mind fully woke.

"What's the occasion Rick?" Her eyes narrowed accusingly. "What did you break?"

"Why is it when I try to be romantic, you accuse me of breaking or blowing something up?" Rick asked with a mock scowl. "If you must know Mrs Hunter, I'm bringing you breakfast in bed to celebrate Mother's Day."

"Oh!" Her eyes shot wide before she glanced at the digital readout on the clock. "I hadn't realized what today was!"

Her eyes turned back to Rick and a mischievous smile crossed her face. "And you try to play the romantic card usually after you do something stupid."

"Not all the time!"

"True, but still..." She covered her mouth with her hand as Rick just glared at her. Kaylee looked up at her mother in curiosity.

Rick tried hard not to smile as he looked away from her. "Well, if you're going to be mean to me, I guess you don't get your favorite breakfast."

She rolled her eyes and just laughed. After fighting off the urge to join in, Rick gave a small chuckle before placing the trap across her lap and made sure it didn't spill over. He gave his wife a short peak before he rose back to his full height. "So, game plan today is I'm taking Kaylee with me to work so you can relax and enjoy the day. I know Max is doing the same for Miriya and Ben is still on Paternal Leave at the time. So you and our favorite Sterling can hang out and do what ever it is woman do when they have a free day."

"That sounds like a good day to me." She smiled. "Are you sure you can handle the rugrat on your own?"

Rick gave a cocky grin. "Of course I can handle her on my own! What could possible go wrong?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"This has gone completely wrong." Rick grumbled as he eyed the disaster that was the training room. Max followed his gaze and watched as the two terrors were giggling as an irate Karen Penn was running after them, crude childlike drawings covering her face and any exposed skin while her two co pilots were doubled over, making sure they didn't fall to the floor as they were having trouble breathing.

"Little escape artist, both of them." Max snickered. "This is what happens when we turn our backs for five seconds."

"I don't know whether to impressed my daughter is successfully avoiding She Hulk or be disappointed a toddler got the best of her while she was napping during her break." Rick commented, deadpanned.

"Why not both?" Max suggested as he watched the two scamper under one of the simulators, Karen running to the other side to catch them. She hadn't counted on the two girls to anticipate this action and they bolted back out the way they came.

"Let's go grab the kids before Karen completely flips." Rick muttered and entered the room. The toddlers spotted their fathers and rushed to them, giggling like mad as Karen stalked out from the other side of the simulator, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Rick saw her start to open her mouth and just leveled a stern look at her. "Don't get upset they drew on you. A pilot is supposed to be completely aware of their surroundings. You lost to a toddler."

Baker and Graham lost it at this point, falling over with tears running down their face as Penn glared harshly at them, before stalking off towards the showers. Rick meanwhile was looking down at his daughter with a scowl as the little one just smiled up at him. "Your Mom is right. You are just like me."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy entered the chaotic control room, his face a calm mask as officers and enlisted personnel darted around as they passed reports to and from. "What have we got? Shipping accident?"

Colonel Leonard shook his head, not looking up from where he was hunched over a computer, his brow furrowed in concentration. Roy stepped over to him, eyes narrowed.

"What is it Colonel?"

Antole Leonard looked up at Roy with a neutral expression before passing over a report to him. Roy grabbed it and began reading before his own face registered confusion and shock as he looked to the man. "How accurate is this?"

"Very." Leonard sighed before rubbing his eyes. "It's a damned disaster."

"Disaster is understating it Colonel." Roy countered, slamming the report on the desk. "Xenophobes cut off our eyes and ears before stealing the Tristar! How in the hell did this happen?"

Six months ago, a xenophobic group calling themselves Terra Firma had cropped up, mostly in peacrful non-violent protests demanding the Zentradi be brought forth to answer for War Crimes for the blatant attack on Civilian population centers. No matter how often the UEG would explain to them that the ones responsible were already dead and that they had no grounds to extridite any of the current Zentradi leadership in for a trial. The most damming part was they some how got their hands on a video recording of the Battle of Macross as historians were now calling it, and it showed the bombardment of the city. A civilian city. Commander Breetai had even come forward to explain why they fired in a press conference, explaining they were ignorant of how humanity functioned and believed the whole island to be a military target. It had done much to sooth many fears, but the TF seemed to be hell bent on getting the non-humans off the planet. They'd upped their game recently with attacks targeting the Zentradi Concoluate and even RDF installations as well. They were rapidly climbing Roy's shit list. And now, they'd managed to hijack an RDF Starship!

"Ask the Zeds Admiral." Leonard shot back. "They sure as Hell didn't stop the ship."

"Sir! Incoming communications from the Tristar!"

Roy sent one last look to Leonard before giving a sharp nod and the communications monitor snapped on to show the face of a young man with brown eyes, tanned skin, and a wicked scar running down the side of his face. "Ah, Admiral Fokker! I was hoping you'd be the one to answer!"

"I don't have time to play nice kid." Roy crossed his arms and glared at the image. "So I'll make this quick. Shut down your engines and give yourselves up/ That's military property your taking for a joy ride."

"Such horrible manners." The young man chuckled. "I don't think you are in position to demand anything Admiral."

"You feel like betting your life on that?"

The young man frowned before he smirked. "I see I must first show you how serious I am. I had hoped we could have a civil discussion where I tell you my demands first. Oh well. Fire."

The Tristar came to port and aimed her bow directly at Earth before a plume of smoke and fire leapt from her dorsal missile tubes.

"Admiral! The missile is on target for the Norfold shipyards! High yield reflex warhead!"

Roy's eyes widened as he began barking orders.

"All Defense Units are to intercept that missile!"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." The young man grinned darkly moments before the controller looked to the Admiral in panic.

"All Defense guns are down! It's going to hit!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The young boy happily walked next to his mother in the clear warm day. He enjoyed going to the park and playing with his friends. Well, his new friends. His Dad had been stationed at the big navy base by the ocean and the little boy loved being able to go out to the beach and look for buried treasure, even if he never found any. He stopped and looked around in confusion as a laid wail filled the air and his mother seemed to freeze. "Momma, what is that noise?"

His mother didn't answer and picked him up quickly before she began to run. He began to feel fear as all around them, other people seemed to be running just like his mom was. "Momma? What's happening?"

"It's going to be okay David!" She responded in a gentle tone, one that hide her own fear well. "It's just a game!"

The little boy seemed to get excited, wondering just how they'd play the new game when he looked up to a strange rumble and saw the really cool planes his dad flew, screaming high into the sky at a bright dot that seemed to be coming towards them. "Momma! Look!"

The mother looked up and her chest clenched tightly as her fear finally showed.

"Oh no." She whispered and closed her eyes. "No. Not again."

"Not what again?"

She looked to her son and gave him a sad, tear filled smile. "It's going to be okay David. I love you. Remember that okay?"

A loud scream filled the area before David heard a mighty rumble and covered his eyes from the bright white light. He cried out as he felt the intense hear burn at his skin before he felt himself flying through the air, darkness claiming him.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy slammed his fist on the table as the whole control room went silent, eyes wide as they watched the shock wave from the ship to ship missile expand from the impact point. Roy's eyes blazed with rage as he looked to the smirking young man. "You bastard."

"Since your Zed friends killed my father, that would be an apt description at present." The young man spoke non nonchalantly. "Now, will you listen to what I have to say or will I need to target New Macross City next?"

Roy clenched his fists tightly. His children and Claudia were there as well as Rick and his family. His whole body shook in surpressed rage as he glared murderously at the man on the screen. "What do you want?"

"Glad to see you're understanding just where we stand." The young man grinned. "I am not afraid to fire again so I'd suggest you listen to me closely. I know how precious each ship you have is so I know you will not destroy it."

"I'll tell you this kid." Roy seethed. "You fire again, and _I_ will personnel bring that ship down."

"Oh Admiral. Don't worry yourself. I have no intention of firing but if you keep up this non productive attitude, I may find my finger slips." The man threatened, all humor gone. "If you want your ship back and for New Macross not to become a crater, my demands are quite simple. You must deliever Colonel Maximilian Sterling to me to start with. Second, the Zentradi known as Commander Breetai must surrender himself for a full War Crime trial. And third, all Zentradi on the planet and in our solar system must leave immediately."

Roy narrowed his already angry eyes. "Why do you want Colonel Sterling?"

"It's simple really." The young man drawled. "He will be tried for treason as well. After all, he did consort with that Zentradi whore during a time of war. You have...six hours to see to my demands. If you do not comply, I will unleash the complete missile payload of this ship on the surface of the Earth. Do not tempt me Admiral, or you will lose...dearly."

The channel snapped off and Roy gripped the edge of the desk, taking a deep calming breath before looking to his communications officer. "Get me General Mattis."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"So how do we get up there? The Corps issued me a rifle, not wings sir."

Master Gunnery Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds glared at his subordinate. "Shut that mouth of yours Tracey before I put my boot up your ass."

Captain Veronica Dare just shook her head as she looked over her team. They'd gotten the call from Headquarters Marine Corps to assemble and prep for an infiltration mission. From what she'd been told, they'd been selected to board the hijacked Tristar and regain control of her. If they could not, they were authorized to scuttle her. Something Dare had no intention of doing. Her men were the best of the best and they would get the job done.

"How many targets we looking at?" Staff Seargent Jayne Cobb ignored the normally pre misison shouting match Reynolds always seemed to have with Tracey. The boy just didn't know when to keep his yap shut.

"Intel estimates near sixty." Dare answered, opening up the correct folder to display on the holoscreen. "As you know, the Tristar is mostly automated so a minimal crew can operate her in an emergency situation."

"Can I ask how the TF pulled this off?" Gunny Hoban 'Wash' Washbune asked from his place across the table. "Sixty guys managed to bum rush our most powerful ship and steal it? Something doesn't smell right."

"Maybe if you washed your feet every once in a while." Cobb muttered, earning a glare from Wash. Dare sighed and rubbed her temples.

"They infiltrated the construction teams and planted back doors in the primary computers. Once they were ready to go, they gained full computer control and took off."

Reynolds didn't look to sold on that. "Still. Wash has a point. Sixty guys don't just make off with a battle cruiser on their own. But we ain't paid to think about that part. I don't know about you, but I say they have some pay back coming to them for turning Norfolk into a crater."

"Agreed." Cobb looked to Dare and smirked. "So we got a plan?"

Dare nodded as a small smile played across her lips. "We do. And I think you'll like it Jayne. It going to be very violent."

Malcolm sighed and palmed his face as a truly dark grin crossed the other man's face. "My favorite kind of plan."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Explain to me again why we are drifting in space?" An agitated Mal asked as he slowly and carefully looked to Dare. "Can't we just knock on the front door like normal people?"

Dare gave him a withering dare and Mal grimaced. "Alright. Forget I asked. I'll just turn my mic off. Talk to myself for awhile."

"A sure sign of insanity Mal." Wash quipped, smirking as they got closer and closer to the battle cruiser. Because of the tense stand off, the UEG and the RDF ordered their ships to back off from the Tristar to avoid causing another attack. As much as Admiral Fokker had wanted to deny what had been said, the Tristar was too valuable for them to lose. And that was why the five man MARSOC team had been sent in along with one other special force team. Checking her tracker, she spotted them coming in from the direction of the rising sun and was thankful her visor was polarized. She could do with out being blinded.

"Price. How you doing?"

The Former SAS Officer's english accent filled the com with his notable sarcasem. "Just dandy here. I've always wanted to see my homeworld in a damned eva suit."

Dare resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just sighed.

"Understood Price. Soon enough you'll be out of that suit and into a fight."

"Not soon enough for my liking."

"It's not all bad Price!" Wash chirpped as they drew closer to he ship. "It's one hell of a view. I mean, have you looked at the stars around us?"

"I try not too." They could hear the neasuous tone in his voice. EVA obviously didn't agree with him.

"Alright you two. Let's keep the chatter to a minimal. Target is twenty seconds out."

The mics clicked and Dare concentrated on the fast approaching ship. The world grew silent as they rotated as one and the magnetic boots made contact with the hull. Gripping her rifle in one hand, she turned to Mal and pointed towards the access hatch nearest to them. The man nodded and the team made their way slowly over the hull, weapons ready. Cobb looked to be overly excited while Wash was keeping his eyes locked directly ahead. Dare and her team reached the hatch and she bent with some difficulty to input the access command in to open the hatch. With a silent motion, the hatch opened and allowed them to enter. They waited until the small chamber they were in was sealed and oxygen had been pumped in before Mal took point, slowly pushing the hatch opened with his barrel following the arc of the opening hatch and stepped through. Scanning the hall, he motioned them to exit and form in the hall, his eyes spotting the bulkhead numbering. "Looks like deck two. Section six. Port side."

Dare took her Eva helmet off and nodded in understanding as the others began shedding the bulky EVA suits. Frowning, she thought back to the deck plans she'd been sent.

"Alright. Our traget is the promary weapons control conduit. We cut that, they'll be unable to fire the main weapons."

"Not to be that guy, but what about the back ups?" Cobb asked, weapon ready. "Ships like these always have back ups."

"Price and his team are taking care of that along with securing engineering." She replied and the team readied themselves to head out after stashing their suits back in the chamber, their Black Digital Cammo a stark contrast to the gun metal green corridors and deck plates. "After we hit the prirmaries, we'll high tail it to the bridge and deal with the jackass in charge."

"That's not a nice thing to say about Admiral Fokker." Wash smirked. "He's such a swell guy."

Mal wasn't amsued and glared at the joker. "Stow that shit. So are we going? Or do you want to keep talking about the plan in the middle of the hallway here?"

"Very well Guns. You take point."

"So I get to play bullet sponge huh?" He retorted and started forwards, silence weapon raised and ready.

"Well, since you offered so nicely."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Rook, you take point. Ghost, keep our six clear." Price ordered crisply as he and his team moved closer to their objective. "Soap, you and Sandman discourage the curious. But do it quietly. Don't want the whole bloody ship to know we've stopped by to say hello."

"Anyone ever tell you that your sense of humor needs work?"

Price glanced at Soap and gave a shrug. "They don't pay me to be funny. Now, keep your eyes opened."

The second strike team cautiously moved forward and Price frowned as he spotted two TF Insurgents speaking to the end of the hall, not even noticing the five men approaching from behind them.

"I had thought the Micronians were braver than this." One was complaining. "They have already begun scurrying instead of fighting."

"They are protective of their world." His friend replied. "Much as we are of our homeworld."

"Still...I feel this plan will fail. They will eventually realize their plans have been sent to Crystal."

Price slowly made his way forward, knife in hand as Ghost seemed to blend into the darkened hall way, his own blade out. Price frowned, hearing the two before him speak. He knew some Zeds were arrogant sods, bragging one minute then gurgling after he slit their throats. Such is life he supposed. He tensed as he finally came up behind the one closest to him and saw Ghost out of his peripheral and gave a sharp nod before his hands shot out and his blade flashed. With a surprised groan, Price burred his blade into the back of the now identified Zeds skull, holding tightly until he was sure his target was dead before dragging th body back into an alcove and hide it. He looked up as Ghost pulled his knife out of the Zeds temple and kicked the body into the garbage chute and gave a disapproving look. It wasn't because it was disrespectful to a body. Far from it. It was apt but a body following down a garbage chute could alert the enemy force on ship that some one was wandering around. He tapped his headset and waited a moment before he spoke. "Alpha One, This is Bravo One."

 _"Go ahead Bravo One."_

"Two of our friends here let slip a little secret. Be advised, looks like Zulus are mixed in the regulars." Price ordered, his frown and suspicion deepening by the minute. "I don;t know about you, but I have a feeling more is going on here than a simple terrorist wack job taking a piss here."

 _"Colorful."_ Dare remarked before she continued. _"But I agree. Something isn't right. Stay alert Bravo One."_

"Wilco. I'll call you once we make it to our objective."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"You are sure?" He asked the human before him. It had been so easy to infiltrate the primitive organization and make his way to the top. He'd have rather killed them all, as he had been doing for so long under the micronian's very noses. It was satisifing for him to kill so many with out them catching him over the past few years. As far as he knew, know one had an idea who the Monument Killer was. It was only on orders from Crystal that he even joined this pathetic group.

"Yes Aliyosha." The human, a young blonde nodded. "The Zed lovers have bordered the ship."

"Where are they?"

She sighed. "We don't know. All we know is two airlocks were opened with command access codes hardwired into the systems. I have teams moving through the ship, searching for them."

He nodded calmly, but on the inside was smirking. They were playing into his hand nicely. Once they arrived, he would be able to set into motion the next part of his plan. "We must find them! If they wish to fight for their inhuman allies, we must show we are serious about taking control of our world again! And they will be the message."

The young woman smiled and nodded. "It shall be done!"

"Yes it will." He smiled to her and placed his hand on her cheek. "And we will celebrate once we have won."

She gave a sultry smile. "You really know how to encourage a woman."

"I try my dear. Now go. Ensure at least two of them are alive and brought here."

As much as he may hate the micronians, he really did enjoy their matting practices. And he had yet to find anyone better that Samantha. Perhaps he would let her live after all of this.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Cobb waited in agitation as Wash worked the controls, typing furiously as he tried to bypass the security lockout and not alert the Jackass In Charge where they were. They'd already been forced to engage a security team. Now, they were running behind. Price had radioed in to inform them they were moving in through the reactor room and making to secure it. "Come on Wash! We don't have time to waste here."

"This is very delicate work that you don't want to rush." The man shot back before grinning. "And we're in."

Wash rose to his feet and turned to Cobb, Mal and Dare keeping an eye out for another security team. "See Jayne? You need to be patient-URK!"

"WASH!" Jayne fell backwards, startled as a metal spear was jammed through the Tech Experts chest. His eyes fell on the spear, confusion on his face before looking back to his friends.

"Why?"

The spear was ripped back and the falling man was shoved aside before a large contingent of Micronized Zentradi stepped into the hall, weapons firing as Cobb and the rest of the team ducked aorund the corner and took firing positions. "Those gorram bastards!"

Mal was furious as he watched the first of the Zeds round the corner at a run and his weapon barked, sending three roungs into the Zeds head. Blood flew from the three dots that appeared on the left side of his forehead. AS the body feel, more Zeds charged forth, calling for blood. "Go loud!"

"Ya think?!" Mal yelled as he switched the selector on his weapon to fully automatic and held down the trigger. Jayne's face was set in fury as he cocked back and threw his grenade, hard into the face of an approaching Zed. The Alien stumbled back, dropping his rifle as his hands clamped down on his now broken nose. Before he could recover, the explosive detonated and shredded four more that had rushed forward.

"Price! We've been engaged!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"What do you want me to do about it?!" Price yelled into his headset. "Damn bastards are swarming the engine room! Ghost! Two o'clock on the catwalk!"

A satisfying boom sounded as Ghost fired his shot gun loaded with slugs and the human that was with the Zeds went down in a scream, blood flying from what remained of the left side of his chest. Soap popped from cover and unloaded a quarter of a mag into a bull rushing insurgent, the forward motion of the body saw it skidding for several feet across the deck plates. Price swore as a dozen more hostiles came pouring in through the left side of the engine room. His eyes fell on the massive power transfer conduit running over his head.

"The hell with it!" He aimed his rifle as he spoke. "Alpha One, things are about to get dark! Grab hold!"

Price pulled the trigger and a shower of sparks flared to life before the lights cut off.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Dare growled as she dropped another target as she heard Price swear over the open channel She almost dropped her weapon as she heard his warning. _Alpha One, things are about to get dark! Grab Hold!"_

"Mag boots!" She screamed, tapping the controls to active the magnets in the bottom of her boots. The order came a split second before the lights flickered and shut off, the emergency lighting coming on, but not the artificial gravity. The Zentradi TF members hadn't counted on such a crazed move and found themselves flailing in the zero gravity and Alpha Team took advantage of that fact. Weapns barked as they rose as one from cover, body sent spinning away as the momentum from the rounds transffered into their targets. After several seconds, the sound of bodies bumping off the bulkheads were the loudest in the are.

"So that didn't go as planned." Mal remarked.

"When has a plan ever gone right for us?" Cobb snarked, his face falling into a grim visage. "Can't believe these bastards got Wash."

"We'll mourn him after we get the mission done." Dare stated firmly, checking the rounds in her weapon. "Right now, we have a job to do."

Jayne nodded while Mal just glared at the bodies. "Yeah. We do. So let's go misbehave."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Aliyosha looked out of the bridge window as the blue world rotated in front of him. His human minions were out with the rest of his men, trying to find the two teams Admiral Fokker had sent. He had expected this and planned accordingly. He turned back to the communications monitor as eyed his superieor. "Have you received the plans?"

The woman nodded. "Yes. They made for quite the intersting read. Are you sure they do not suspect what you really are?"

"It is doubtful." He calmly replied. "And if they do, it is of no matter. Either they destroy this ship and weaken themselves, or they take it back. It really matters not. What matters is that by them merely speaking to me, we have delivered the package."

"This is true." She mused, admitting they had accomplished their mission. "And what of the others?"

"Already working to infiltrate their defense networks. The defense towers over their destroyed city were merely cut from the primary power grid." He smirked. "Once your fleet does arrive, you will be able to use their own defenses against them."

"That will make for such irony." She chuckled. "Weapons set to defend them will be used to destroy them and all who they call friend. You have done well and will be remembered as a hero to our people. May you die well."

"And you Lady-"

He paused and looked around as he felt the gravity controls start to falter before the bridge became bathed in darkness. He snarled as he felt himself go weightless and the emergency lighting kicked on. "Report!"

One of his men who had been barely able to grab the console in time, looked to the display as it came back on, a warning flashing across the terminal.

"Primary power lines have been severed! Gravity control is off line and the life support is operating on battery power!" The man checked further and looked grimly to his commander. "Primary drives are down as well. We are beginning to fall towards the planet!"

The big man blinked before a dark smile crossed his face. "Well, this may be more interesting. What will you do Admiral Fokker? Destroy this ship with your own people aboard? Or will you chance them gaining control?"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

In the command center, Roy was staring intently at his board as the system began painting the deorbit path of the Tristar. Whatever had happened up there, her orbit was no longer stable and the computers warned him it would slam into the planet's surface in close to an hour. It would land right on New Detroit. Roy knew what he had to do if his teams couldn't gain control. Leonard was eyeing the screen himself with hooded eyes. "This isn't good."

"No? You think?" Roy hissed at him before closing his eyes to regain his composure. "We either hold out and hope the teams can get control of her or we have Breetai blast it to dust before it can do any more harm."

He looked to the comm officer. "Tell Breetai to move into positon. If that ship drops below 500,000 feet...destroy it."

"It's the right call Admiral." The Colonel spoke firmly. "Those soldiers up there knew the risks. And we can't let more civilians die today. Personally, I'd recommend destroying it right now instead of waiting. We can't risk more lives here."

"It may be perfectly acceptable to kill your own men Colonel, but I won't unless I have no other choice." Roy glared at him. "Until that ship passes the set hard deck, I will not order it's destruction. Any more comments like that, and I will have you removed from my control room. Clear?"

The Colonel's eyes hardened. "Crystal. Sir."

* * *

 **A/N: So I confess to using Firefly/Halo ODST/and Modern Warfare names for the teams attempting to regain control of the hijacked Tristar. As Fer82 said, using comics and novels is a good way to extrapolate what happened between Macross Saga and the ASC storyline. The one I found online, which was a pretty detailed one, only had a few things that transpired before the Crystal War...which if you caught into some clues, that will be the major plot point here before getting into the New Generation. I still haven't decided yet if New Generation will get it's own story or post it in this one. Anyway, you all have trusted me so far, so please keep doing so. I have not once let you guys down and i don't plan to. Now, onto the review shout outs:**

 **andrewjameswilliams: Always a pleasure to see your review. And yeah, Baker is a bit rough in the begining here, but he will mature some. I have a plan on how to spark the full transformation. And yeah, I agree. Not much info on the inbetween! Also, I'd love to get my hands on the Sentinels II comics! They ran from I think 86 to 96 or something like that. Covered a hell of a lot of the pioneer mission and such so it would be a good read!**

 **jag389: As I said to andrew, Baker will be rough for the next chapter or two as i grow the story. He'll grow up soon. And glad you like this sequel.**

 **WardogRD: Thanks, I try ya know! This tale as said in the first chapter will be more of a darker story line to it than Alight did. While Alight had it's dark moments, this one will make you do a double take at part as while the Zeds have calmed down, some still are disgruntled with life on Earth. That will come into play soon.**

 **cjusa1234: Trust me, the shenanigans the VB-6 get into will make you jump from your chair in happiness. Already have an idea for a scene with them and let's just say...big badda boom (Fifth Element!)**

 **Giulio The Roman: Actually good sir, I really don't lol! All I have is work (part time at that!) and writting. No friends to hang out with as they are either out of state or in prision so...Don't worry, I'm not offended. My life right now is a mess so I use writting as a way detach myself from the lonely life I live for now as I work to change that. And nah, Khyron pulled a Trump and blabbed all over twitter. Not even sure how he popped up in my feed but meh...The RDF appreciated the info! Anyway, reason I had chapter one of this up so soon was because I already had it written before I finished Alight lol! I actually planned to hold off, but the idea of no major projects didn't sit well with me. So, enjoy this ride my friend! And Lisa only prefers you until she sees a US Marine!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 New Surprises

Rick entered the control room, face set in a grim visage while Lisa headed off towards the operations center to take over there. Seeing Roy's grim face, Rick knew this was going to be a bad day.

"How bad is it?"

His brother looked up at him with hard eyes. "We've lost contact with the teams we sent. About fifteen minutes ago, the Tristar began to fall from orbit. Breetai is standing by to destroy her should she cross the 500,000 foot hard deck."

Rick's brow furrowed as he thought over the limit imposed and nodded his head in understanding.

"Any lower and it risks contaminating the atmosphere with radiation." He frowned. "And it should hopefully allow the debris to burn up with out putting any civilians at risk."

"My thoughts exactly." Roy said with a nod. "But I hope it won't have to come to that."

"Who do we have up there?"

"Dare's team and Price. Last word we got was they were under heavy enemy fire."

Rick walked to the open spot and logged into the system, pulling up status reports that included the Battle Cruisers current orbital position. He read in silence as Roy watched him, Colonel Leonard conversing with one of the sensor operators as he got the update on the rest of the fleet to get them ready to blow the Earth Ship from orbit if they had too. After several seconds, Rick sighed and looked up to his brother. "I'll scramble my boys for high altitude intercept. If these wack jobs decide to even sneeze at us, they'll be the ones to catch it before it makes it ground side."

"Which teams?"

"Skull and Ghost."

Roy blinked in surprise. "You want to put Ghost in the air?"

"Baker has gotten the hang of his ego." Rick smiled tightly. "I wouldn't trust anyone but him to watch Max's back up there. He'll need the extra hand since Ben and Sarah are out for awhile as is Miriya."

Roy nodded his head, hesitant. "Alright Rick. You know your men better than me. Make the call."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Contact!" Price yelled and his rifle barked in rapid succession, tagging the hostile that attempted to charge him with a pipe. "Crazy bastard."

"Just another cake walk, huh Price?" Soap snarked as he slammed his rifle hard into the face of a blonde woman that had decided to fly at him in the absence of gravity. Price glared at his long time friend as the body drifted into the bulk head rather quickly, a trail of blood floating behind it. Not answering, Price spun and sent a sustained burst into an armored target that was creeping on Sandman.

"Funny Soap. Let's move lads!" He barked as he took off down the hall in a leaping sort of sprint, taking full advantage of the off line gravity generators, his team following under a hail of return fire. He was rather thankful it wasn't very accurate. He ducked through and open hatch, sending off a few burst as Ghost twisted mid leap and let an M67 fragmentation grenade sail from his hands. Price quckly slapped the controls and the hatch sealed just as the grenade exploded. "Nicely done Ghost."

The young man grinned, his dark skin making shinning with a light coat of sweat. "I aim to please."

Price snorted and turned to his men.

"Who has a claymore?"

"I got one." Sandman, the only one of American descent held the device in his tanned hands. "Figured it'd be a nice surprise."

"And who says American's don't have a sense of humor?" Soap quipped with a grin, thumping Sandman on his back. "Well played."

Sandman grinned. "Well, some one needs to show the British how to fight. Why not a US Marine?"

Price just smirked while Sandman set the claymore by the hatch and checked the directory next to him. "Looks like we're in section fifteen deck five. Bridge is deck three section eight."

"Bit of a walk, eh Price?"

Price glared harshly at Soap. "Make a joke about my age and I'll shove you out the air lock."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Ghost Lead to tower, ready on runway zero nine. Requesting take off clearance."

The face of Lieutenant Commander Sammie Porter came on screen. The former aide to Admiral Lisa Hunter had come into her own over the years. Long gone was the naive young woman who at times felt out of her depth. Now, the young woman let off an air of confidence. _"Ghost Leader, you are clear for take off. Scramble to thirty thousand and form with Skull team Saber. Good hunting Buckshot."_

"Roger tower, Ghost Team departing." Baker feed power to his VF-1, feeling her mighty engines rumble. Ghosts all white fighters gave massive roars as the second generation Valkyries screamed down the tarmac, taking wing and angling into the partly overcast sky. Checking his instruments, he was pleased to not that She Hulk and Cipher where right on his wing, "You two ready?"

His voice was calm and level, fighting back the urge to let loose in the air. It had been sometime since they'd taken to the skies and it felt freeing. His communications panel kicked into split mode and both Karen and Sue were staring back at him. Karen's face was set in her normal serious look while Sue was smirking.

 _"Ready as we'll ever be Buckshot."_ Karen reported, not even looking directly into the panel.

 _"I'm surprised we weren't scrambled earlier."_

Baker nodded his agreement but kept himself concentrating on the mission. "Things change. Stay alert though. From what Boss told us, we could be in for some serious chop if that ship blows in atmo."

The two acknowledged his order and Baker swineherd to the command channel and Colonel Sterling's face appeared. "Ghost Leader checking in Specter. Climbing to meet up with you guys."

 _"Understood Buckshot. Your team is to remain at thirty thousand to catch anything we miss up here."_

"And who is our safety net sir?" Resisting the urge to complain, Baker remembered Sue's words from a few weeks ago. Max seemed pleased that he didn't argue.

 _"Ground defense towers are a last resort. Any debris will come our way since the idiots flying the_ Tristar _put her on a course to pass New Macross. Since she's falling now instead of orbiting..."_

Baker winced as his flight leveled out at thirty thousand. "It means the debris becomes ballistic shrapnel if it survives reentry."

 _"Right in one Buckshot."_ Max nodded. _"Any chunck big enough if she get's blasted will be a major problem. Especially if any of her fuel cells or missiles don't get vaped. I know you guys can do this or Rick wouldn't have sent you to back us up."_

Baker's pride swelled at that statement but fought to keep it in check. However, a small smile did cross his face. "Understood sir. We won't let you guys down."

 _"I know you won't Buckshot. Just remember to keep a level head alright? No insane stunts."_

"Understood sir."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"How are they looking Sammie?" Lisa asked her long time friend. The younger woman pushed a stray strand of her red hair behind her ear, opting for a more functional bun than how she used to let her hair hang free, her gold wedding band twinkling in the light.

"Saber and Ghost are in position and starting CAP now Admiral." The woman reported briskly as she tapped a few keys. "Bulldog and Warmaster are reporting ready as well."

Bulldog and Warmaster were two Phalanx Destroid companies that would lend some muscle to help the defense towers along with the standard squads assigned to air defense. Even after dealing with the last few hostile Zed units on Earth gone, they had learned the lesson of believing themselves safe. Especially after the massacre of New Denver. Lisa spotted the flash of concern in Sammie's eyes and knew what it was about. Her husband, a former Zentradi spy turned friend, was second in command of the Warmasters. It was one of four mixed human and Zentradi units in existence, with Rico proving himself during the final few bouts with the Loyalists on Earth. "Rico will be fine Sammie."

She turned to Lisa and gave a small smile.

"I know Admiral. I just can't help but worry." She admitted.

"Oh I know what you mean." Said Admiral chuckled mirthlessly. "Every time Rick would go out, I was afraid something would go wrong. It's normal for us."

"Miriya and Sarah at least can watch their husbands backs." Sammie grinned. "I'm not sure whether it's to keep them in line or to keep them alive."

Lisa gave a soft laugh. "Probably both."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Mal cursed as he ducked back around the corner, laser and bullets peppering the bulkhead. "I think they're pissed!"

"Really? You think?" Dare shot back as she pumped the underslung 40mm before popping around cover long enough to send the explosive gift into the crowd of enemy soldiers holding them back from the bridge. The muffled explosion was music to Jayne's ears as he twisted out of cover and held down the trigger on his rifle, sending 7.62mm Hypersonic, explosive tipped rounds into the now dazed enemy. They fell with screams as one unfortunate hijacker had his chest explode outward as one of the rounds bit deep into his flesh before detonating.

"How about less talking and more killing?" He demanded, pulling back into cover as a hailstorm of return fire passed through the spot he had been standing moments ago. "If you haven't noticed, the bad guys are shooting at us!"

Mal decided not to even answer the irritable man, instead opting to lean out of his cover and send a trio of burst into the now less than a dozen guards that were hell bent on holding the bridge. "Sure is a lot more than sixty men on this boat!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Dare snapped before she gave a pained gasp and fell to the ground. "Mother fucker tagged me!"

"How bad?"

She looked to her arm and winced as the blood began pouring from the nasty looking laser burn. "It's just a scratch."

Mal gave her a flat look before turning his attention back to the Zeds as they tried in vain to hold them back. Hearing a strangled scream, Mal snapped his head around and saw Tracy grabbing his throat, his rifle floating out of his hands. As if in slow motion, he a watched as Tracy clasped his hands over his throat, blood seeping between his fingers as he fought hard to breath. Mal knew that kind of injury was fatal and closed his eyes as the life left the kids. Feeling his anger boiling, he rose to his feet and readied his weapon. Dare looked to him in concern. "Don't do it! Don't you dare do what I think you're about to!"

"There are plenty of fine ways to die ma'am." His voice was cold and fury filled as he tightened his hand on the rifle. "But I'm not waiting around for the Zeds to chose mine!"

The man stepped from cover, weapon barking and spent shell casings leaping from the chamber. Mal saw red as his mind screamed in fury. _It was his first damn mission! These bastards are going down hard!_

Grunting, Mal shuddered as a round hit him in his right shoulder. Not stopping and pushing the pain aside, he marched forward as he gunned down hostile after hostile, supported by automatic weapons fire from Jayne and well placed headshots by Dare. One of them, a dark skinned bald man, let out a scream and charged Mal. Not even pausing, the man slammed the butt of his rifle into the man;s head hard enough to actually break the skull. The man dropped to the ground, out of it as the final defender fell dead. Breathing heavy, Mal checked his shoulder and sighed. "Well, another scar to add to the collection."

The rest of his team cautiously moved forward, bodies and shell casing drifting through the hall as the gravity systems were still down. Dare surveyed Mal's handy work. "Effective."

He winced as she slapped him in the back of the head, her harsh brown eyes flashing in anger. "Don't do that again. Now, Price and his team should have made it to the bridge by now. So let's get moving."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Dare had been partially right. They were already on the bridge. Price was eyeing the floating man before him with a smirk. "Well now, you aren't exactly human are you?"

The dark haired man sneered, seeing he had been outed somehow.

"And what gave it away Micronian?" The man questioned with venom, seeing no point in hiding what he was.

Price readied his rifle and watched as the Micro Zed grabbed onto a computer, having failed to anticipate the humans cutting the power relays. The back ups were down as they had never been connected to the primary computers to activate if the mains went. He looked to be having trouble getting into position to probably charge Price. "You know, I'd offer you a hand, but since I'm just waiting to kill you, you might turn down any offer for help."

The Zed gave a dark chuckle as he tensed his body, preparing to propel himself at the smirking human.

"That does put a damper on our relationship." He said right before he pushed off with all his strength. Price had been waiting for this and grabbed the outstretched fist, the impact of the Zed knocking him over as he let his rifle fly from his hands. Using the momentum to his advantage, he bounced hard off the deck before he managed to free his knife. With a quick thrust, he slammed the blade into the Zeds shoulder, severing tendons. Kicking off of the now screaming being, he grabbed hold of a hand rail that was installed just in case gravity was ever lost. Watching with some amusement, Ghost took a running start and slammed his magnetic boot into the back of the aliens head, silencing him as he was sent to the land of sleep. Price gave a mock clap as Ghost grinned and bowed.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Alright you wanker. Get to work bringing the back ups on line. The others should be here soon."

"Already here." A familiar female voice called out. Price turned and spotted Veronica Dare marching onto the bridge with the rest of her team. "Status report Captain."

"Ma'am, Bridge secured/ We lost Sandman in an ambush 'round section ten, deck five. Buggers thought it would be funny to blow out a bulkhead on us. Soap is down with a twisted ankle, the pansy."

"Sod off Price." Soap grumbled as he gingerly stepped toward the auxiliary board as Ghost and Rook headed to the damage control console.

"Other than that, just peachy." Price's eyes swept over the three before him and grimaced. "I'm guessing you had some worse luck."

Mal was the one to respond. "Damn right. Wash was killed by a spear of all things and Tracey took a round to the throat. Fucking Zeds."

"Stow that Guns. See if you can get the coms up so we can let Command know we have control." She ordered, understanding the heat in Mal's voice. She was just as pissed as him, but now wasn't the time to show it. She turned to Jayne, seeing the man eyeing the unconscious being drifting slowly towards the ceiling. "Jayne, no killing. We'll need him."

"Plenty of others on this ship. Let me kill this one."

"You can space the others, but this one stays alive." She stated firmly. "Get to the operations station and seal off the bridge before you send the rest into the vacuum."

"Aye aye Boss Lady." Jayne grumbled and went to this task.

Dare turned to Price and gave a tight smile. "Think you can fly this bucket?"

"Flying is easy, it's landing I'm bollocks at." He snorted before making his way to the helm. "Just hope this thing doesn't decided to toss us all over the place."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy watched as the marker descended closer and closer to the hard deck. No word had been heard from the boarding team, and they were quickly running out of time. He gave a regretful sigh and turned to Leonard. "Send the order to Breetai. He's cleared to fire."

Colonel Leonard turned to the communications officer and had just opened his mouth when she quickly placed a hand over her headset, eyes locked onto her console. Roy meanwhile, had noticed that the Tristar had stabilized and was now starting to rise back into orbit. He turned quickly to the com officer as Rick crossed his arms, waiting to see how this played out.

"Incoming from the Tristar sir! It's Alpha lead!"

"Patch it through!" Roy barked. _Please tell me you guys have control._

The speakers popped with static before a familiar voice came through. _"Lancer to Big Bird, we have the_ Tristar. _I say again, the_ Tristar _is back under RDF control."_

The room erupted into applause as Roy leaned heavily against the console, the relief pouring off of him in waves as Rick grabbed the phone that would connect him directly to Lisa in the Flight Ops center. He waited a moment as the applause seemed to taper off. A second after he picked up the phone, his wife had already answered. _"Go ahead General."_

"Admiral, _Tristar_ is secure. Mind calling the kids back home?" He smirked as he pictured her rolling her eyes.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa rolled her eyes, but smiled none the less. "Will do. Baker must be thrilled to know you think of him like a son."

She could almost see his sour look and his voice came back over, his tone telling her he was not amused. _"Yeah yeah Lisa. Very funny. You know I'll get you back for that."_

She gave a knowing smile, already aware of what Rick planned to do to get her back. She didn't mind. She ended the call and turned to her anxious staff and gave a nod.

"Call our planes back. The mission was a success."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Baker was keeping his gaze on his scopes as he waited. It had been nearly thirty minutes before they had launched in case the mission upstairs failed. Wondering when they'd get word, he glanced out his cockpit and looked skyward. "Really hope they pulled it off up there."

As if to answer his statement, Colonel Sterling appeared on his center screen.

 _"Good news Buckshot. Boarding teams pulled it off._ Tristar _is back in our hands and command is ordering us to RTB._ "

Baker let out a breath and nodded.

"Understood sir. Ghost is returning to base."

Max gave a nod. _"See you ground side."_

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The Zentradi smirked as he sat in the interrogation room, watching the old man in front of him with a rather large mustache frowning at him. He knew Admiral Gloval and was rather surprised to see he sitting across from him. The Admiral seemed to be trying to guage his mental state but would find it impossible to tell what was going through the Zentradi's head.

"So..." Henry began, eyeing the smirking alien. "Let's start off easy. What is your name?"

The alien leaned back and gave an air of amusement before he spoke. "No one of consequence."

Henry's frown deepened as the alien looked at him smugly. He took a calming breath and locked his eyes on the Alien. "You seem to be under the foolish belief that being difficult will be of use to you. That you will force me to lose my temper. You will need to get used to disappointment."

The alien shrugged. "Okay."

Henry eyed the alien carefully and sighed. He honestly had no qualms about what he was going to do as the Alien had made it clear he would be difficult. Though, Henry saw it coming.

"So I am going to guess you will not speak."

The Zed gave a mock clap. "Very astute of you Admiral. It only took you fifteen minutes to realize this."

"I would caution you to rethink your stance in the matter." Henry told him firmly. "Their can be...unforseen consequences should you decided not to agree with the questioning."

The alien just grinned and leaned forward, his eyes crazed. "Do your worst Human."

Henry gave smirk as the Zed before him just grinned.

"Oh, it will not be me doing my worst. Trsut me, the one who will be speaking with you is tame compared to what I would be. You have killed near 700,000 innocent civilians." Henry's gaze became murderous enough that the Zed blinked in surprised, instinctively recoiling from the Admiral. "Believe me when I say the methods I learned long ago in the KGB would have you spilling every single one of your little secrets."

The Zed was still trying to understand just what change had come over the Admiral when the door opened and his eyes came into contact with a Micronized Breetai. The larger man was eyeing the zed with harsh eyes. "Admiral. Has he decided to sit through our interrogation?"

 _This may not have been a smart move._ The Zed was now beginning to feel a trickle of fear at the pure feral gleam coming to life in Breetai's eyes. He was well aware of Breetai's methods. He sudden began to wonder what the Admiral would do if Breetai was considered tame compared to him. "You're intimidation tactic will not work on me."

Cold eyes locked onto him.

"You think this is merely a tactic to scare you?" Henry asked him, his voice holding his own cold fury back, but enough seeped through to spread a sense of apprehension and fear in the Zed before him. "My friend, you see a bluff where none exists. Be grateful it is not I that you will be dealing with. Remember, you could have made these easy on yourself."

The Zed began to look between Henry and Breetai, not sure if it was a bluff. His eyes narrowed and he turned his eyes back to Henry's. "This is a bluff. You micronians are too soft to allow torture to another sentient being."

"You would be correct except for one minor detail." Henry's eyes flared with cold stinging fury. "I do not consider you a sentient being. Your actions make you nothing than a rabid animal and I have no issues with putting such a beast to death."

The Admiral kept his gaze on the alien before he turned to Breetai. "He is yours. Please ensure you are able to get as much useful information from him as possible before you will him."

"I thought you proclaimed to be civilized!" The Zed blurted out.

Henry sent one last look to the being before he spoke. "My comrades and my race sleeps sound at night as men like me stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm. I am civilized until you push me beyond the line of friend to foe. After that...you are, as they say, fair game. You made the mistake of angering me. Commander Breetai, do as you wish."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Breetai glared down at the beaten and bloody Zentradi before him. He would give the man his respect for enduring eighteen hours of interrogation. For that, Breetai would give him a small amount of respect. His will was strong, that much was sure. "You have endured quite well. I wonder how much more you can take before you finally break?"

The man gasped for air, his body screaming in agony. He spat a wad of blood at Breetai's feet, unable to spit in the Traitor's face as he would have preferred.

"You will get nothing from me!" He rasped out. "You are all living on borrowed time!"

The rogue grinned up at him, open swollen shut as blood poured down the left side of his face.

"You have lost."

Breetai slammed his boot in the man's jaw, watching a few teeth fly from his mouth. "You will tell me what I wish to know. One way or another, I will have the information I seek."

"As the micronians are so fond of saying..." The man tried in vain to raise himself, but two broken legs had a way of keeping one down. "Fuck off."

Breetai reached down and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him clear into the air. To his credit, he didn't let more than a pained wince cross his face as his broken legs were jarred, the bone showing through the skin. The cold eyes of Breetai stared into the crazed ones for a moment before he spoke, disgust in his voice.

"You dishonor our race. We have made an Alliance with these people and yet you'd see us all burn before the masters! Why?!" He roared, slamming his massive fist into the stomach of his captive.

The man coughed, trying hard to breath as the grip on his throat tightened. "R-Revenge. You betrayed us!"

"I saved us as a race!" Breetai threw the man into the wall, the captive letting out a pained grunt as he impacted into the wall. "We were nothing more than slaves! Meat for the grinder! WE have a future now!"

"A future for what Breetai?" His pained voice questioned. "A future as pets to these disgusting beings? No. Once she arrives..."

"She?" Breetai repeated, a curious look on his face as the captive realized he'd let slip some information. "The only 'she' that could be considered even a small threat is long dead."

The door to the interrogation room opened and Exedore entered, his dispasionate gaze never wavering as he saw the state of the captive. In his mind, this traitor deserved to be spaced. Breetai turned to Exedore. "What is it my friend?"

"We have managed to decrypt the intercepted transmissions." He reported. "It seems this traitor was working to weaken our defenses."

"Do we know who he was working for?" Breetai shot a harsh looked towards the wounded man. "He seems to prefer being difficult."

"So I have gathered." Exedore responded dryly. "From what I can gather, he has been in contact with the Crystal Fleet."

Breetai's eyes widened and he turned fully back to the heap of a man laying on the ground and scowling. With an angry roar, Breetai grabbed the man once more and slammed his head hard into the bulkhead. The sickening wet crack sounded through the room as the eyes of the captive rolled up into his head and he fell to the ground, dead. Breathing heavily Breetai turned to Exedrore. "This has just become a high priority issue. Contact Admiral Gloval and Admiral Fokker. We have a war to prepare for."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"So what is so dangerous about this rogue fleet?" Roy asked, curious.

"Because they are supposed to be dead." Exedore calmly stated. "The prior clone for Commander Azonia was in command of the fleet when they went missing on the frontlines aganist the invid."

"And somehow they've been alive all this time?" Roy asked in disbelief. "How'd our hot headed friend even contact this fleet?"

"That is a question I have no answer for." Exedore sighed. "I theorize that perhaps Khyron contacted them from the Factory prior to the final battle for control. If that is true, they may be on their way here."

Roy gave a defeated sigh. "So we have another clone running around and ready to glass Earth. Joy."

Exedore inclined his head in agreement. Henry laced his fingers together and eyed to two Zentradi in front of him. The room was silent as the Russian thought over the possibilities on how to combat a fleet that was a complete unknown to them. "Do you have any guess on the fleet strength?"

"Impossible to say at this point Admiral." Breetai's deep voice rumbled. "When it was launched, it number near two thousand ships. There is no way to know how many would be left."

"So why don't we just prepare to face the possibility of two thousand. That way, if they show up with a smaller than expected fleet, we'd still have the advantage."

"I'm afraid Admiral Fokker, that will not be a very effective strategy." Exedore spoke in an apologetic tone. "Near 200,000 ships from Dolza's fleet could have linked up with the Crystal Fleet which would put us at a massive disadvantage."

Roy groaned in defeat as he rubbed his temples.

"Just when I think we may actually have a chance, it get's pulled out from under me." He muttered tiredly. "So what do we do? We don't have the SDF-1 to help this time. And the Trip is a third way into her framing as with the rest of the fleet being built. Unless we build a couple Grand Cannons through out the solar system, we can't face that head on."

"And we still have the RoboTech Masters to contend with" Henry commented, rubbing his eyes. "Gentlemen, I thank you for bringing this information to us. We shall meet tomorrow and plan out a course of action to deal with this new threat. If Khyron did contact them, it is very likely we won't be able to use the same method we did against Dolza to win this time."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Ben was snoring loudly on the couch as Rick and Lisa arrived at the Dixon home. Lisa gave a small disapproving look as Sarah hurried from the kitchen, a wide smile on her face. "Glad you both could make it! Max and Miriya will be over soon as they get Dana ready."

She spotted Lisa's gaze and smiled brightly.

"It's okay. Ben has been waking quicker than me to take care of Ashley at night." She giggled. "It's rather cute how she already has him wrapped around her little finger."

Lisa smirked and shot a pointed look at Rick. "Sounds like someone else I know."

Rick just grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah well, it's only fair." He explained. "You carried Kaylee for nine months. Least I could do was make sure you got as much sleep as possible."

The girls giggled while Kaylee whined to be set down. Lisa just shook her head and set her daughter onto her own two feet, the child started on her way to look around. Something they had noticed was how curious she was at her age. At one point, Rick had watched her figure out how to use the remote properly with in ten minutes which surprised him. He hadn't even realized he left it down for her to grab when he came back into the living room and caught her channel surfing. He thought it was just her playing with the buttons until she found the Disney channel and stopped, clapping her hands together as one of her favorite shows was on. Rick watched as she walked right over to Ben. Rick's grin slowly widened as he nudged Lisa with his shoulder and the women both followed his gaze as Kaylee pushed on her uncles shoulder. Ben let out a snort, but didn't budge. Kaylee cocked her head to the side before she took her pacifier from her mouth and poked him on the cheek with it. Ben lazily rubbed his hand over the cheek and Lisa rolled her eyes before she went and grabbed her wayward daughter least she stick the pacifier in Ben's ear like she was prone to do to Rick. Said man pouted as Kaylee began to whine at having been picked up. "So you stop her from doing that to Ben but I get the slobber in the ear?"

"You did like my hand."

Rick looked at her incredulous. "That was almost five years ago! You mean to tell me you've been getting revenge on me for that of all things?"

"Maybe." She teased, smirking as he gave a scowl.

Rick looked back to Ben as the man slowly came to. "Huh? What time is it?"

"About time you woke up you drooling slob." Rick joked as Ben wiped the side of his cheek completely off. His still drowsy eyes locked onto his friends and Ben just glared.

"Ha ha Boss." Ben muttered and stretched. "Do I need to remind you of how you acted once Kaylee was born?"

"Uncle Ben!" The little girl chirped out and Lisa decided it was a good time to set her down again. Seeing her hurrying over to her uncle, her parents could only smile as said uncle gave her a hug.

"Well hey shorty!" Ben laughed as the child giggled. "You here to see your cousin?"

"Baby?" Kaylee's eyes seemed to light up as Ben spoke to her. The tall man nodded, smiling.

"Yup." His looked to his friends and smirked. "Told you I was going to end up as her favorite Uncle."

Lisa however, gave him a knowing look. "You had to bribe her Ben. A child will always love anyone who gives them candy and money, even if she doesn't know what money is yet."

They laughed as Ben just scowled at Lisa.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one guys. My muse started to wavier and working third shift is sapping me of energy! But I got it done and up. This chapter is more for setting the stage for the war that's looming over the heads of our heroes. Next chapter will deal with the issues of preparing for a possible war and maybe a short timeskip as well. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed reading this. Drop a review please.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Plans and Ideas

Rick looked around the room as they waited for the Admiral to arrive. He glanced over to Lisa who was looking over the information they'd been given one week ago after the _Tristar_ was brought back under RDF control. He frowned as he pulled his own packet to him and flipped it open, skimming through the document with a scowl. It seemed like every time things seemed to settle down, some moron with a warped sense of humor threw these curve balls at them. Sighing, he looked over the current fleet status as Major Reinhardt dropped down next to him. "Looks like more fun ahead of us, huh sir?"

"You have an interesting idea of fun Gunther." Rick gave a small grin as he looked over to the man.

"Well, I'll say this." The man smirked. "Ever since this came up, the politicians have sent more funds to the defense budget."

"I still can't understand why they've been so tight fingered about that." Rick admitted with some confusion. "You'd figure with the lessons learned, they'd be more than willing to let us do our jobs."

The man gave a hum of agreement while Lisa gave a mirthless snort. "You really think they'd use common sense? Rick, honey, that's why they are called Politicians. All hot air and bluster."

Rienhardt snickered as Rick grinned at his wife, his eyes dancing with humor.

"I guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise huh?" He shook his head. "Guess I should be thankful they at least sign off on my pay check."

Those around Rick began to chuckle at hearing the little by play between the three, each of them agreeing with Rick's statements. It was well known with in the command staff that the UEG Council was hesitant to put more funds into the current defense budget. They were no where near as bad as the original council, but the shiniest turd in the pile is still a turd. A short cough caught their attention and the gathered Officers rose to their feet as Fleet Admiral Henry Gloval entered, making his way to the podium. Taking the seats next to him were Vice Admiral Roy Fokker and General Rolf Emmerson. Almost as it an after thought, Doctor Emil Lang hurried to his place next to Roy as Henry looked around the room. "Good morning. I gather you have all gone over the information provided. So with that said, I will get to the point. We have an enemy fleet bearing down on us. Earliest estimates for the arrival place it with in a decade. Now that is a boon for us as we are still working to rebuild the fleet after the Battle of Alpha Centauri.

"As we have only managed to rebuild around twenty percent of our fighter losses and less than ten for capital ships, we can ill afford any confrontation at present. To that end, the odds do not look good." Henry sighed. "I will not beat around the bush. We are in trouble. However, Doctor Lang had some ideas that I wish to have your opinions on. Emil?"

Doctor Lang rose to his feet and looked around the room.

"Admiral Gloval is correct in his current assessment of our fleet strength." He stated bluntly. "However, we have some ideas to help us even the odds. First is the HAMMER Grid that was used to great effect during the Rain of Death. I have teams running simulations and designs to make them more effective."

"If we can produce a more effective weapon loadout, we can place them in the asteroid belt and in Lunar orbit as well. We already have early warning sensors in the belt and it wouldn't take too long to build the required number."

"Excuse me doctor, but I have a question."

Eyes turned to Admiral Maistroff. "Is this the only defensive system we have on the table?"

"No. We have plans for a missile based system." Emil answered. "It would act as a Anit Missile turret on a much larger scale. Each structure would house near one hundred low yield reflex warheads. Also, there is an idea to reassign the decommissioned nuclear weapons in the form of a mine field. Though the inherent danger with using such devices make them prohibitive at best."

"Why is that?" Colonel Lennox asked from his spot near Roy. "If we put them in the belt or even at the edge of lunar orbit, the danger should be minimized by the vacuum right? I can understand not putting the close to Earth, but I'm confused why they are off the table?"

"It is simple really." Emil straightened his stack of papers. "Even ignoring the EMP that is associated with a nuclear blast, detonations in the field can send debris hurtling towards Earth. Not to mention any ships in the area would be in danger from impacts. No, that is not an option."

Colonel Leonard, who had been silent looked Emil in the eye. "What about the Moon? We can place defensive batteries on it's surface. And if we could place units on the surface, it could act as an anchorage for us."

Henry was the one to answer that question.

"The option to turn ALUCE into a staging ground is being considered, but nothing is set as of yet." He noticed the frown on Leonard's face. "You have more on this subject you wish to say Colonel?"

"Sir, with respect, I understand that every person here would rather not arm a Civilian facility, but these are not the best of times to deny a solid base of operations just on the grounds that it would be less of a headache to leave it as is." The Colonel paused before he continued. "I believe that we should at the very least construct a refueling station for any of our ships patrolling the solar system. For one, it will reduce the strain on the current yards and allow for faster production of ships. Two, it will also keep the lanes clear so if an enemy fleet does fold into Earth Orbit, we won't end up with a similar issue of collisions."

Rick took a long look at Colonel Leonard before he sighed, Lisa sending him a curious look.

"I agree with Colonel Leonard Admiral." Rick's voice was firm yet you could hear he wasn't very happy about agreeing to the man's logic. "Maybe not build it at ALUCE, but a Lunar refueling and repair yard could go along way to helping us prepare for not only this Crystal Fleet but also the Masters if they come calling."

Henry nodded his head, his gaze thoughtful before he spoke. "I shall speak to the Council. The suggestion does have merit."

"If they start to argue, you could always remind them that it is for keeping the science station they wanted safe from any attacks." Lisa gave a small smile as Henry grinned. "After all, if a full fledged attack occurred, ALUCE would be the first target. And as it is a civilian run installation..."

"I see your point Admiral Hunter." Henry chuckled. "Since we have that cleared up for now, let us move on to the defense measures. I too am against nuclear ordinance being used close to Earth orbit, but I feel we must indeed go that direction for mining the asteroid field."

Emil gave a disapproving look. "Admiral, I can not begin to imagine just what kind of damage can happen should an irradiated fragment make it to Earth's surface. The risks-"

"Are acceptable Emil." Henry gave a frown as he looked to the man. "I understand your concerns, but the benefits outweigh the risks."

"And what of Mars Admiral?" Rianhardt spoke up before sending an apologetic look to Rick. "I'd suggest we either set up a drydock or at least defensive satellites similar to HAMMER. We also have both moons to use also."

"While good ideas, we lack the manpower to undertake so many construction options and defense measures."

"What about the Zentradi?" Roy queried. He saw the looks he was getting. "What? They can help us get the ball rolling. They have plenty of men just sitting idle. Not to mention they also have the ships to set up a tighter patrol grid."

"That's..." Lisa gave him a surprised look. "A good idea actually."

Roy stuck his tongue out at his sister-in-law before he spoke. "Don't act all surprised sister. I have the occasional flash of brilliance. I've never had a bad idea."

"What about the bee hive?" Rick smirked as Roy glowered at him. The room erupted into chuckles at Roy's sour look and Gloval smiled at his son-in-law in spirit. He allowed the levity to remain for a few moments before he gave a short cough, bringing the meeting back on track.

"I shall contact Commander Breetai and see if he can assist us in that regards. For now, we shall stick to what we can handle with our current manpower." He glanced to Maistroff. "Speaking of manpower, how are the current batch of recruits shaping up at the Academy?"

"Some good talent coming through the latest group. Some I'd say will be ready for their own command in a few years." He glanced at Rick. "And other than one notable rough spot, pilots are coming along at a decent rate. General Hunter and his team have turned out exceptional pilots over the past six months."

Henry gave a satisfied nod. "And recruiting?"

"Up ten percent this quarter. We'll have enough pilots with in the next six months to replace out losses, just not enough planes just yet. And the prototypes for the Tornado seemed to have stalled so the ground pounders will be with out any mecha of their own for awhile outside of the Tomohawks and other destoroids."

Henry mentally reviewed the Tornado design. A rather interesting motorcycle that could transform like a veritech and give the soldier riding it a fighting chance against even a Zentradi. At least on paper. "What has derailed the testing?"

"It's not as adaptable or as advantageous as it was sold to us." Maistroff frowned. "First test ended up killing the rider. So it's back to the drawing board for that."

No one noticed the flash of triumph that crossed Leonard's face as Maistroff continued speaking. "Though the Hovertank concept seems to be more favored at the moment. And I will admit, it actually has some better applications than the Tornado. And the VB-06 is coming along nicely."

"I thought the program was having power control issues?" Emmerson asked in a confused tone. "Something about the power plants shorting out?"

Lang shook his head. "No, it wasn't the power supply, it was the substandard parts purchased by the late Senator Russo. The man's greedy nature has set us back five years on most of our major projects. We've had to start combing over every unit we have in service just to bring them up to current standards."

Roy gave an explosive sight before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I knew I should have shot him when I first met him." He muttered much to the amusement of those in the room. "Now we're going to have to start rotating complete squadrons out of action just to make sure they are running perfectly."

"I'll have Vince and his team start checking the Vertiechs immediately." Rick looked to Roy. "I can trust him to get the job done while the planes are down for maintenance. It will set back the upgrade program we have underway for the current fleet at New Macross."

Roy gave a sharp nod. "Do it. I don't want one of our guys going up in smoke because a relay that's held this long decides to go pop."

"We should also start checking our surplus parts as well." Lisa recommended. "We have been pulling from the stores pretty heavily while the infrastructure was rebuilt. Quite a few of our fresh fighters were built from those parts."

"And we shall." Henry looked around the room and waited to see if anyone had anything else to say before he gave a nod. "Very well. The plan is to get as many systems up and running with in the span of the next five years. However, the first three months will be to ensure every vehicle and spacecraft in service and those under construction do not have any substandard parts in them. We will also be pulling forty percent of the staff and materials assigned to the construction of the SDF-3 toward building the fleet."

He held up a hand as the room erupted into sounds of disapproval and even earned himself a flat look from Lisa Hunter. "I do not take this action lightly. While the SDF-3 will be a powerful ship, it is resource intensive. One partially complete ship to face a possible fleet of 200,000 is not only foolish, it is suicide. We must get the fleet assets up and running as soon as possible. Doctor Lang tells me the reduction will push back the completion of the SDF-3 to twelve years."

Lisa laced her fingers together. "Sir with respect, wouldn't it be better to have the flagship completed prior to any hostile arrival? We all know how important it is to find the Masters before they decide to drop in."

"In a perfect world, I would be willing to agree with you Lisa." Henry gave her a small smile. "However, we will need the fleet well after you depart for their homeworld. I am sorry, but this must be done. It should have already been done. And with this new threat looming over us, we must be prepared to face it. Construction will not cease on her, but we need to get back on our feet as a species."

Lisa gave an incline of her head, acknowledging the Admiral's point but still wasn't happy with it. Rick placed his hand on her's and gave it a gentle squeeze, understanding her thoughts in the matter. He wasn't happy about it either, but he could understand the Admiral's thoughts. She sighed and gave Rick a small smile.

"Do we have any other subjects that need to be adressed?" Henry asked pleasantly of the room.

"Admiral, sir." Leonard rose to his feet as they watched. "As you know sir, our population is still dangerously low. Coupling that fact with the sheer amount of work that needs to completed, I'd like to recommend with increase Project ARK by an additional fifty percent. I know cloning was not well received by the UEG and the civilian population, but the results we have seen so far can not be denied. Just three years ago, we barely numbered at five million souls. Now, we have close to 800 million people on the planet. If we can get the okay to increase the output for lack of a better word, my teams tell me we can achieve near one billion for world wide population."

"You're also using stored DNA sequences from the dead." Emmerson glared at him. "I can't tell you how big a land mine that is should some surviving family member sees a dead relative walking down main street. They'll scream desecration and then we have a huge political shit storm to wad through."

Colonel Leonard merely gave him a calm look. "I understand the moral ambiguity of using such a method, but what is more important? Our survival as a species or the feelings of some civvie out there who may run across the clone of a fourth cousin?"

The room dropped a few degrees as Henry leveled an icy glare at Colonel Leonard. The man, to his credit, didn't flinch. Everyone around the room was looking at Anetole Leonard with open disgust. Lisa looked ready to kill the man while Rick's blue eyes turned a steel blue and his jaw clenched tightly. Gunther was showing open hostility at the man as his wife and son had been killed during the Rain of Death and he sure as hell wouldn't stand for such a blatant insult to their memory.

"Ignoring the moral implications of direct cloning with out express approval of the families, I will not allow such a vulgar disrespect to our dead be committed." His expression showed he wouldn't change his mind. "When the Council approved such drastic measures, we were facing certain extinction and laws were either ignored or relaxed to a degree that allowed _mixed_ genetic clones. Project ARK will remain at current birth rate. As much as flooding the streets with fully adult clones may ease the work ahead of us, I will not begin down the path the RoboTech Masters have gone with the Zentradi. What is next Leonard? Disposable Pilots? Soldiers? Where do you draw the line?"

Anetole remained stead fast as he looked Gloval right in the eyes. "I draw the line where my species continued existence is not threatened. If you say the current rate will remain as is, it will remain. But I warn you Admiral, this is a dangerous game being played. Morals and ethics are nice to have to keep your conscious clear, but when the hand is shown, I only pray ours is strong enough to win."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"He gave up on ARK too quickly." Roy grumbled as the Flag Officers met after the meeting. "He is up to something."

"Colonel Leonard isn't known to just back off a subject he feels should be priority." Emmerson agreeed. "While he made some good points, he has to know we won't allow the rate to be upped."

Lisa was looking at the window, a speculative look on her face as she thought over the meeting. She agreed with General Emmerson. "I think we should figure out what he has in mind. He bowed out of the argument rather quickly and it makes me wonder what he is doing behind the scenes."

Roy turned to Gloval with a frown.

"I agree with Lisa. If he's up to something, something he believes is justified, than the clone argument was a smokescreen to divert our attention." Roy began to scowl. "I'd rather not have him scheming behind our backs just to take an action that not only undermines us but can weaken us. I say lock him up for now. At least until we can get our plan of action underway."

"That's probably a bad idea Admrial." Gunther stated with a grim look. "I know Leonard. He's planned for that. The man thinks five steps ahead before he takes any action. There is no telling what kind of fiasco waits should we move on him too quickly."

"So we just wait around until a clone army is unleashed on us?" Roy shot at Gunther. "This isn't Star Wars. There is no Grand Army. I say pull the projects under his authority and assign him to the Siberian Wastes as a janitor. Cold hearted bastard would fit right in."

Admiral Gloval smirked at Roy's statement, his own thoughts echoing the Vice Admiral's fairly close. "As much as that idea pleases me, I will not condone that. While he is extreme in his beliefs, he does produce results. For now, we will merely watch his moves. Once he steps out of line, I plan to slam him with every regulations and law I can. For now, no matter how grotesque his appearance maybe to us, we need him standing guard on the wall."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick eyed the report with a shocked expression. Before him, a grim faced Commander Vince Grant watched his friends expression as it cycled from shock to disgust and finally to anger. "Forty percent of our active fighters have multiple class two defects in the engine systems. Of that number, near fifteen percent are Class One at this point. Most of our fighters all seem to have a mixture of Class four and Class three."

Rick tossed the report on the desk and rubbed his tired eyes. It had been less than six weeks since the meeting that outlined the plan for the next five years. And already they had significant issues to work through. And top of the list would require grounding of nearly five thousand veritechs for Class one and two defects. He didn't even want to contemplate how lucky they were that none had caused a crash yet.

"It's not pretty sir." Vince's deep voice carried his grim tone. "We'll need to strip down the entire engine block for all of them and rebuild them from the ground up. We can't take any chances those faulty relays didn't cook something else in the system. Thankfully, the reactors and general air frames are up to spec."

"Which doesn't mean jack if the engines go boom in flight." Rick sighed and reigned his temper in. "Sorry for snapping Vince. It's just...this has charlie foxtrot stamped all over it."

The larger man nodded his head in understanding. "I can understand sir. We've pulled in all the birds for Skull, Ghost, and Wardog. They had the highest number of Class Ones and twos. We can probably have them airborne again in two weeks at the earliest. I'm guessing the fleet is in better shape?"

"So far. Mostly a few relays in the secondary systems." Rick shrugged. "Primaries were made as the ships were being built so that's a positive. It seems Russo and his cronnies are striking back at us from the grave. The truth is hard to handle in this situation. How's Bowie by the way? Lisa's planning to call Jean to set up a play date or something like that."

Vince chuckled at Rick's subject changed and leaned back in his chair. "He's doing good. He's already started crawling everywhere. Jean told me it's not uncommon for some kids to take longer to get the finer motor skills for walking."

Rick smirked and gave him a knowing look.

"Give it time Vince. Soon enough, you'll wish all he did was crawl." Rick chuckled. "It seems like everytime I turn around, Kaylee has darted off in some kind of demented version of hide and seek. Max told me Dana has started trying to climb on everything."

"With that child, I wish Max the best of luck!" Vince laughed. "I saw the video of Penn trying to chase down both of them."

The two men laughed, feeling the stress of the situation drop away. Rick took one last look at the report and sighed. "We've got some work ahead of us Vince. For the kids, we need to make sure we protect this planet. It's all we have."

"And we will sir." Vince stated firmly. "We will."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Captain Claudia Fokker rubbed her eyes as she looked over the final reports for the _Salvation_ , the second ship in the Tristar-class. She was starting to regret taking the offer for her own command and shook her head. While it was a headache, it was nothing compared to the one her husband, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law had to deal with. The nightmare they faced was on a whole other level of hell. At least she only had _one_ ship to worry about not a few hundred and near ten thousand fighter. She hadn't put thought into the numbers and had been surprised as it seemed smaller than it should have been, but between the battle at the Factory and the total blow to man power they took to Dolza, she guessed it made sense. It seemed like a slow recovery to her but again, it wasn't her area to be worried about. She heard her office door open and looked up to spot her Executive officer, one Lieutenant Commander Kim Young entering with a smirk. "How goes the paper work Captain?"

"Mostly finished." Claudia remarked. "Days like this, I'm tempted to just resign and become a housewife."

The younger woman smirked at the statement and gave a shrug. "You'd be back with in a day."

Claudia raised a single eyebrow, her own smirk stretching across her face.

"Really now. You sure about that?"

"Positive." Kim grinned. "As much as you love your daughters, you'd go stir crazy with just them to occupy you. Here's the construction report. The _Salvation_ should be ready for full system test by Tuesday."

Claudia accepted the report and skimmed over it. "And the crew roster?"

"Final transfer orders have been sent." Kim reported in a business like tone. "They should be ready to go before the shakedown next month. It's werid she's getting out of drydock faster tha the _Tristar_."

"Well, that tends to happen with a whack job steals it before our team decides to shoot up the main power relay." She sighed. "Which means we get the job as flagship until the repairs to the _Tristar_ are complete."

Kim smirked. "Well that's not a bad thing ma'am. I'm sure Admiral Fokker won't mind setting his flag on the _Salvation._ "

Claudia had to grin at that statement as her mind took that statement as the innuendo it had been intended to be.

"You need to get yourself a man Kim." She chuckled. "I deal enough with Roy's dirty mind, I don't need my XO letting her's run loose on my ship."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Dana! No! You can't climb on the sid-" Max was interrupted as said toddler managed to clamber onto the table and sent to lamp crashing to the ground. "You're gonna make me gray before I'm thirty young lady."

The blue haired toddler clapped her hands, giggling as Max shook his head before Miriya entered the room. Dana saw her mom and stretched out her hands to be picked up. "Can you grab her while I clean up her newest mess?"

Miriya just smirked and retrieved her daughter from her perch, watching as Max went to work picking up the large chunks of porclien and the rest of the shattered lamp.

"That's the third one this week." Max grumbled as he tossed the remains in the trash before going for the vacuum. "Between our daughter's destructive streak and your world record of six coffee pots in three days...I'm not sure how I haven't been killed yet."

Miriya just kept smirking as she bounced Dana in her arms, the little girl giggling happily. "You love every second of it Max. And you know it."

Said man grinned and nodded his head, vacuum ready to go.

"True enough." He hit the power button, turning the device on. "And I wouldn't trade it for a boring life any day of the week."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Ashley Michelle Dixon! Let go of my hair!"

Sarah laughed as the tiny baby grabbed hold of Ben's hair that he'd let grow out a few more inches than it had been since last month. The man was going cross eyed as the baby just gurgled happily, little hand not releasing it's grip.

"I warned you to get a hair cut Ben." Sarah stated, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Why do you think I wear mine up now?"

"Yeah, well, I didn't think she'd grab mine!" Ben grumbled as Ashley finally let go of his hair. Ben couldn't fight off the smile that appeared on his face as his daughter's blue eyes looked up at him. "No fair Ash. You can't use those baby eyes on me forever!"

"Oh yes she can!" Sarah laughed out. "Admit it tough guy. She has you wrapped around her little finger already!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick dropped onto the couch and groaned as he rubbed the sore jaw. "Geez...she hits as hard as you do."

Lisa just shook her head and picked up the pouting child. Kaylee had managed to get her hands on Rick's cell phone and had started to use it as a teething toy much to the man's dismay. When he'd tried to retrieve it, she'd cracked him in the face with it. "You should have place it higher Rick. You know that."

He poked his head up over the couch and scowled at his wife.

"I had. How was I to know she'd climb onto the kitchen table to get it." He spotted Kaylee glaring at him and he glared right back at his daughter. "Oh no you don't Sparky. Hitting Daddy is bad."

Her little lip began to tremble as she looked to her father. Lisa decided to watch the little staring/guilt match that seemed common place when ever Kaylee would act out and Rick would attempt to act stern. Key word was act because he had yet to actually pull it off before Kaylee wore down his resolve. She crossed her arms as stubborn father and stubborn daughter just locked eyes. _How long until he caves?_

She didn't have to wait long as Rick let out a sigh and dropped backwards on the couch, the defeat clear in his face as Kaylee went from on the verge of tears to grinning up at her. Her mother just chuckled. "You have your father wrapped around your little finger missy. But we really need to break you of this violent tendency you have."

"Does not!" Rick called from his spot on the couch, disgruntled tone carrying over the sounds from the radio.

"Do too!"

Lisa turned her head to her daughter who was just parroting what Lisa always told Rick when he'd lose these little matches. His head popped back up with a cocked eyebrow. "Of course you'd agree with your mom! I'm out numbered here!"

Lisa planted her hands on her hips and smirked at her husband. "And don't forget it mister."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Get back here you little hell raisers!" Roy called out as he came into the front room, right on the trail of his twin girls. Both looked back at him before giggling madly and crawling as fast as they could. Mitch smirked as he watched Roy chase after his kids and sipped his coffee.

"Ah, sweet revenge." He chuckled as Roy gave him a sour look.

"I knew you cursed me!" The man accused before stooping and picking up both giggling girls. "When you told me you had hoped my kids would be twice as bad as me, I didn't anticipate twins being twice as bad per child! That equals four times!"

Mitch gave a mock applause. "And the man can do multiplication!"

"Bite me Pop." Roy scowled before yelping. Anne had taking his expression literally and clamped her jaws on his bicep. "Hey! No biting!"

"Only Claudia can do that right?" Mitch chuckled as Roy gave him a smug look.

"Damn right!" He winced as his girls began to pull at his shirt. "Boy, these two are going to be handful."

Mitch laughed at Roy's defeated look. "Just wait until their teenage years!"

Seeing his face go pale, Mitch lost it and the twins began giggling madly again.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well, based on the reviews, or lack there of for the last chapter, you guys didn't enjoy it too much. It was a necessary chapter. This one, well, it's worth the wait I think. Work made this one hard to write, Anyway, this contains the first of the two timeskips that will be present in this storyline. And no, it's not Azonia coming back lol. I did contemplate that idea, but decided against it in the early drafts. No, I was referring to my tendency to place things from the comics and novels in here lol. Anyway, enjoy and don't forget to check out my oneshots.**

 **By the way, if you haven't caught the newest update for Darkest Before the Dawn or the update for Second Chances, you really need too! Both chapters were well worth the wait! Remember, read, enjoy, and review!**

* * *

Chapter Six Changing winds

Four years have passed all too quickly for the command staff of the RDF. Especially in their personal lives. The time had been quiet and uneventful for them. No major incidents with either the disgruntled Zentradi that still lived among them, but most unsettling, was that there was no sign of the impending Crystal Fleet. Roy Fokker was happy for this time of peace as it had been hard earned by all of humanity and their allies. Looking over the Groom Lake ship yards, he was pleased with the progress he was seeing. When the UEG had begun to invest into land based dry docks, the old decommissioned US Area 51 had been selected as it's remote location gave them a place to work with. Also, the existing facilities were easily reconfigured to allow them to start constructing ships and Veritechs there. The surviving documents they had come across showed that at one point, the US Government has been hard at work altering the base to house the SDF-1 if it was ever to be moved during it's reconstruction. As is, it had never come to fruition. Now, the base was being used in the way it had been intended He could see ten Banshee light cruisers in their cradles, all in various states of completion. He heard the crunch of gravel and turned his head to see his brother, now a Major General, looking out over the base as well.

"They're really coming along." He remarked as he stopped next to Roy. The blonde man nodded and stuck a piece of gum in his mouth. He'd given up smoking not long after learning Claudia was pregnant and now refused to go back to the habit so to be a good example to his three year old daughters.

"Yes they are. They should be done inside the month."

"What's that bring us to with fleet assets?" Rick asked, turning partial to his brother.

Roy frowned in concentration before he answered. "Brings us up to one thousand ships once they launch."

Rick nodded his head absentmindedly as he watched a flight of the new Alphas take to the skies, still undergoing certification and testing before the old VF-1s were phased out of service.

"That's good. Heard they pulled the Oberths."

"Had too." Roy sighed. "The design just can't hold up to what we're expecting. Especially after what we found in that computer system you guys recovered on the moon."

Rick nodded his head, watching as the setting sun gave a redish gold glow to the hulls of the ships before him. "So no more Oberths for construction. Well, we all knew they'd be the first to get phased out."

The brothers watched the ships before them or a few more minutes before Roy turned fully to face Rick, his face showing the stress he was under with everything they need to get done.

"I still get the feeling this is going to be a lot worse than we are even ready for." Roy admitted to his brother. "With Leonard keeping quiet over the past few years, and the Crystal fleet on it's way...I don't know if we'll win this round."

Rick placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, understanding what was going on in his head. The wrinkles and worry lines on his face had deepened, making the man in his thirties look a decade older than he was. "We'll pull through Roy. Always do."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"We're getting torn to pieces here!" Karen growled into the communications panel as another friendly fighter went up in a ball of flames. The fight was becoming one of the most vicious she had ever been in and it was fast becoming a futile effort. Baker rolled his fighter away from a burst of autocannon fire and planted a missile into a trailing pod hell bent on killing Penn. She glanced back as the missile impacted and nodded her thanks to Baker. "Nice shot."

"Still plenty left and we have only ten minutes to blow this thing. Ghost, form on me. We're going for a run."

The three veritechs rolled as one and dove into the metal trench that traced across the surface of the target. An insane amount of triple a ripped up at them, flak rounds exploding at intermittent intervels and lasers pulses wiped by, lighting up the cockpit of their fighters. Baker grunted as he rolled and narrowly avoided becoming a smear on the side of the canyon. "Just another day at the office."

"Target point is coming up!" Sue called as she slammed her yaw peddle down enough to allow a missile to streak by, missing by a mere foot. "You have a lock yet?"

"Almost." Baker panted out, forcing himself to fly straight so the computer could line up the shot. "Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be!"

"Remember that next time you have a brilliant idea!" Karen snapped right before a burst connected with her left wing. "Damn! I'm hit!"

She peeked at the wing and saw oily black smoke pouring from the damage but it looked like she would be okay as nothing extremely vital had been hit. "Still good to go though."

Baker heard the growl from the computer lock and smirked. "I got tone! Ghost One, fox three!"

The specially designed missile leapt from his wing and shot off on a plume of smoke and fire as the three Veritechs yanked back hard on the stick and shot up and away. Baker turned to watch and cursed in irritation. "Damn! Impacted the surface! Brusier, can you guys make a run?"

Captain Dixon's face appeared on the screen, a grimance as his face as an explosion went off near him. "Negative. Too many hostiles in the area."

Baker opened his mouth to speak when the timer clicked to zero. He watched, as if in slow motion, the massive vessel fired it's primary weapon. The pure primal beam of energy slammed into the surface of Earth, the crust crack and magma shooting miles into the sky. He could see the angry red that began to spread from the impact point as the dull orange cracks crisscrossed the surface. With in seconds, the beam burned through the crust and hit the planetary core. The explosive force of the energy was enough to completely destroy the planet. He bowed his head as a a bright white light enveloped the cockpit. Once ir cleared, he sighed and looked up, seeing the others getting out of their simulators. With a grimace, he spotted General Hunter staring right at him with a blank expression.

"Oh boy." He muttered and exited the simulator as well. The rest of the wing fell into formation as Baker stepped in front of the General, knowing a dressing down was coming. In fact, it had to be. Why else would Colonel Sterling be there as well as Admiral Fokker. Maybe this was where they told him to get out and never come back. He almost flinched as the General opened his mouth to speak.

"Pretty sure you and I had a discussion a few years ago about loading custom senarios into the simulator."

"Yes sir."

Rick glanced at a guilty Ben before turning his gaze back to Jack. "And what did I saw would happen if you did it again?"

"I'd be scrubbing the latrines with a tooth brush after chili day." Baker shuddered.

Rick turned to an amused Max. "What was the rating on that Colonel?"

"Computer pegged it as a 9.6."

"And their efficiency rating?"

Max smirked as he looked to Baker. "83 percent."

The General turned and smiled at the young man and nodded his head. "Your program was effective and had the side benefit of being fun. I'll let this slide just once."

Jack almost sighed in relief as Rick turned his gaze back to the assembled men and woman of the RDF Air wing. "I know many of you have been frustrated over the past few years and the training we are putting you through hasn't exactly been easy. I'm also aware that you need a chance to let off some steam. The program you just ran will remain in the database."

The crowd began muttering their thanks with smiles as Rick raised a hand to silence them.

"However, it will not be ran every time. I'll leave that up to Captain Dixon when he decides to allow it." Rick smiled warmly at his pilots. "With that being said, I came down here to speak with you all before you leave for the weekend. Standard brief. If you are underage, no alcohol. If you are of age, find a ride if you can't drive. I don't want to get a phone call Saturday afternoon telling me one of my pilots is dead from a drunk driving accident." His face became stern. "If you can't get a ride from a friend or a cab, call me. I'd rather get a call at three in the morning to give you a lift than one from the coroner. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

He nodded and smiled. "Alright. Get out of here and enjoy your weekend. I'll see you all Monday morning."

The large crowd of pilots made their way out of the room as Rick turned his attention to Ben.

"Not a bad run buddy." Rick commented, grinning. "I saw the last ten minutes of that. Kind of makes me want to give it a run."

Ben chuckled. "It's a lot harder than you think it is Boss. I thought it was higher than a 9.6."

"I'll be the first to admit, Baker has come a long way over the past few years." Max remarked. "He's coming into his own and is a good flight lead. Plus, his FITREPs have been mostly positive."

Rick rubbed his chin thoughtfully while Ben and Roy gave nods of agreements.

"Is he reenlisting? I know his contract for active duty is about up."

"He's already speaking with the CRS and has the paperwork in motion." Ben told Rick, referring to the Career Retention Specialist that and reenlisting personnel had to see. "I'm actually glad he is. I'd hate to lose his skill set."

"I'll need talk to Lieutenant Hanson tomorrow, see what his re up date is." Max muttered, checking his clipboard. "And see how he requested the ceremony goes."

"Probably in air." Rick laughed.

The small group laughed as the doors flew and a panting Claudia entered, putting them all on edge. Rick and Roy spotted her frantic look directed at them, their stomachs falling quickly. Before any one could say anything, she was already speaking. "You two need to get to the hospital quick. Pop had a heart attack."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy's lips were pursed in a tight line as Jean explained their father's condition. That included the high cholesterol among other issues that had weakened his heart over the years. The near seventy year old man had also been over exerting himself, knowing full well his heart was not as strong as it should have been. "And what can we do to help him?"

Jean looked over to Rick as Roy just kept staring at the wall. Rick's own gaze was hard as his blue eyes made contact with Jean's.

"We've got him on meds to help break down and remove near eighty percent of the build up as well as a treating the weakened heart with a steroid that will only strengthen the muscles in his heart." She paused and sighed. "We offered to clone a new heart for him, but he was against the idea. Made some crack about being vintage with original parts."

Roy snorted in humor. That sounded like Pop alright. Rick, however, was not amused.

"Will he be okay?"

Jean nodded with a small smile. "He'll make a full recovery. And with a proper diet and exercise, he should be just fine."

The brothers nodded and Jean excused herself as they entered the room. Pop was lazily flicking through the channels, muttering barely loud enough for anyone to hear. "Over two hundred channels and not a damn thing to watch."

The man heard the door open and turned his head to see his sons, grim faced, walking over to him. He knew exactly what this was about.

"If you're going to try to tell me off for keeping my mouth shut, don't bother."

Rick crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at his father while Roy just gave the older man a disapproving frown before he spoke. "If we don't, we'd be poor sons Pop. You raised us better than that."

"Also raised you to be respectful and never talk back to me either." Pop countered, leaning back on the hospital bed. "I know what you're going to say. I should have told you both about my condition. And you're both right. But you didn't need that worry over your heads. Not with what's going on."

"Pop, you could have died if Claudia hadn't been stopping by with the twins." Roy stated bluntly.

Pop tried to wave off what Roy had said and down play it. "It was a minor heart attack. I'm fine and the Doc will have me up and running in no time."

"That's not the point Pop." Rick glared at his father. "The point is, you should have told us. What do you think that would have done to us if you'd have died and we found out it's because of your cholesterol? You ever think of that one?"

Pop's gaze went from amused to harsh as he eyed his son with a heated stare. "Watch it kid. You're not too old for me to put across my knee. If you think you're man enough to step up to me son, we can do this once I'm cleared from this hospital."

They were saved from a further heated argument by a small voice calling out.

"Grandpa!"

The men turned and spotted a five year old Kaylee, her hair done in a simple ponytail hurrying over to her grandfather's bed. The old man smiled down at the little girl that was starting to show more and more that she was almost a perfect duplicate of Lisa. The small child clambered up on the chair next to the bed and placed both her hands down to support her weight as she eyed the old man with a curious eye. "You sick?"

"In more ways than you know kid." Roy muttered with a smirk as he turned back to Pop.

Kaylee's mother made her way into the room, giving her own disapproving look as she stepped between the brothers, eyes on the Old Hunter who rolled his eyes. "Don't you start too young lady."

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest, still wearing her duty uniform, and cocked an eyebrow at him as Kaylee tugged on his sleeve, getting his attention again. "You gonna be okay?"

Mitch looked to his granddaughter and smiled before patting her on the head.

"This old man is going to be just fine." He chuckled. "Besides, some one has to teach you to fly!"

The little girl's eyes lit up as Lisa just shook her head in amusement, knowing it was no use to add her two cents into the conversation her husband and brother-in-law had already had with him. She'd just save it for the next time he got stubborn. Which would probably be tomorrow.

"Really? You fly better than Daddy?" She asked excitedly. It had been a while since the last time Rick had taken the child up in the racer, and she always loved it.

"Who do you think taught him to fly?" Mitch asked with a cocky Hunter grin.

"Uncle Roy."

Seeing the old man's face fall broke the tension in the room as Lisa let out a stream of giggles, Rick just shook his head in amusement, and Roy mockingly ran his finger nails over his chest as if buffing them. "Well, I am one heck of a pilot."

Mitch scowled at his son before turning his attention back to the still excited child.

"I taught bother of those jokers how to fly. And I bet your Dad plans to teach you soon enough." He shot a glance at Lisa. "If your Mom let's him."

She rolled her eyes before planting her hands on her hips. "You think I can stop him from doing that? He'd teach her whether I wanted him to or not."

"Can we all go flying again Daddy?" Kaylee asked, turning her cherub face to her father, eyes wide and shining with hope. Eyes so much like his own. Rick sighed.

"We'll talk about it."

Which meant they would. She had learned quick in her young life that when her father said that, it was pretty much guaranteed. She smiled brightly at him before turning and hugging her grandfather.

"Get better soon Grandpa! So we can go fly!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"I hate you both." Pop glared at his sons, breathing heavily. "It's important to me that you know that."

Roy smirked at his father, a light sheen of sweat coating him as the guys stepped off the track after running three miles. Well, Rick and Roy had run three. Pop had power walked a mile after he tried running the laps. He was cursing himself for allowing his body to fall out of shape so badly. And as much as he hated it, he knew he had to follow through with it. He'd first been against the idea until Lisa used the guilt card on him. _'Unless you don't want to see your granddaughter grow up and teach her to fly, I highly suggest you follow the doctor's orders.'_

He grumbled as he remembered what Lisa had said and glared at Rick.

"You are a bad influence on Lisa."

Rick gave him a flat look. "You think _I'm_ the bad influence?"

"You telling me it's her?" Pop asked dryly as they made their way to the bleachers to grab the water they brought with her. "She was a nice, sweet young lady until she married you."

Rick snorted as he grabbed his water bottle, Pop's eye catching sight of the tattoo on Rick's left shoulder. It looked like a Skull, wearing a flight helmet with crossed bones behind it. And the banner under it read 'Fear the Skull'. He was still surprised his son even got one, but like most in the military, he had gotten himself a moto tat. "Trust me Pop. Lisa was like that long before we even started dating. She once threatened to push me out of an air lock after I kinda crop dusted the hall she was walking down."

Roy laughed as he plopped down on the bleachers and grinned at his brother, enjoying the gentle warm breeze. "That was a pretty nasty smell Rick."

"All I'm saying is, Lisa can be a pretty bad influence." Rick grinned. "Never thought anyone would be better than Roy at innuendos, but boy did I learn differently."

"Hey, did you ever get her back for that text deal?" Roy asked Rick, his smirk never leaving his face as Rick's cheeks reddened.

"Not yet, but I plan to."

Pop glanced at the two, confused. "Text deal?"

Rick sighed and looked to his father.

"She decided to be a tease through text messages back when we started to get real serious." He smiled in embarrassment as he thought of that day. "She also knew damn well I had to give a brief that morning."

Roy chuckled as he turned his attention to Pop. "Poor kid didn't even stand up when I called him up, giving his whole brief from where he sat. If I hadn't already been subjected to something similar, I'd have been worried about him."

Rick gave an embarrassed shrug before he heard his phone vibrate. Curiously, he grabbed the device from his gym bag and swipe his thumb to unlock it before tapping the text from Lisa. Looked pretty standard. Grab a few thing from the store on the way home...his eyes went wide before he quickly closed the messages and looked to Roy. "Mind watching Kaylee tonight?"

The two other men burst out laughing at Rick's hopeful face as he waited for Roy to answer.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

The command center was silent as the crews went about their duty. Looking over her warriors, Kazianna Hesh smiled proudly as they prepared for the next fold that would bring them into contact with the long hated enemy. She wished Lord Breetai was still among them as he was a being of legend. Forty-three battles against the Invid Horde and not one loss. She sighed, recalling the emergency dispatch that tore through the ranks that all Zentradi forces attached to Supreme Commander Dolza's fleet had been destroyed in the attempt to recapture the much needed protoculture refinery. She sent a silent prayer to the beyond, asking Breetai to grant them strength for the coming battle. The Invid were pushing hard on the boarder and many ships had been lost to hold the line before the Masters dissappeared on some secret mission.

Fighting back a snarl at the cowardly withdraw, she focused her eyes on the status display. They would be folding right into the middle of a massive battle over the moon of Rel'nar, a planet that had fought back against the Invid invaders decades ago with the help of Breetai. It seems that the Invid had their greedy little sights set once more upon the world and it's resoruces. She swore they would soon learn the error of their ways. And one way or another, she would be reunited with the one man that seemed to draw her in, in a way she did not understand. Perhaps if she did fade from this life, Breetai would be able to answer her questions.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"We have increased the effiency of our reactors." The Elder stated calmly, fingers laced together as he eyed his younger clones. "Our calculations show we will have eight percent more protoculture in our cells fleet wide once we arrive at the Micronian world."

The younger looked to his Elder, frowning. "What of our mecha? We would be fools to believe these...humans have not moved to advance their designs."

The Elder gave a soft smile.

"My young friend. It took us decades to develop RoboTechnology to the point it currently is." He gave a mirthless chuckle. "While their designs are impressive, it is highly doubtful they have advanced quickly enough to challenge us."

One of the younger clones scowled as he looked to the middle Elder. "I agree it is foolish to underestimate the humans. They have shown themselves to be...tenacious. Animals they maybe, but even a cornered and wounded animal is dangerous Elder."

"Enough." The Elder lost all trace of amusement as his harsh tone sounded through the room. "The humans barely defeated Dolza. The damage inflicted has crippled them. They will not have recovered in time to be of a threat to us. You will do well to remember this."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"So that brings our current fleet strength to 1,100 ships with the end of this fiscal year."

Gloval rubbed his tired eyes and looked up to Maistroff. "And what is the break down of the fleets?"

"We've broken them down into ten sub fleets. First Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Fokker has a standing strength of one hundred and fifty ships. Twenty Tristar class battle cruisers, forty Banshee class light cruisers, twenty ARMD Heavy destroyers, and seventy Oberth missile frigates. Total fighter wing is near four hundred and twenty VF-1Bs and a single squadorn of VFA-6 Alpha series fighters." Maistroff read from the report. "Other fleets stand at similar numbers. And with the addition of Breetai's fleet of 2,700 capital ships plus near twenty thousand single pilot craft, I'd say we are in good shape at this point."

"Earlier than anticipated." Gloval remarked, fishing his pipe from his jacket. "And the defense systems?"

"We've got ninty percent of the orbital satellites on line and ready." Emmerson reported from his position to Maistroff's left. "Whole system wide readiness is around sixty percent. We've had some trouble with the ARIES Defense grid that's holding us up, but should be done in six months. Good news is that the Demios Advanced Design Yards are up and running. Phobos is running about a month behind schedule but will be worth the wait."

"What is the issue with the ARIES?"

Emmerson snorted. "Same as everything else: Man power. We're starting to stretch ourselves thin, but with some many projects coming to completion this year, it's a minor issue at this point."

"It is a wonder we have enough personnel to man the current fleet." Henry calmly stated, voicing the thoughts of those around the room.

"It is." Maistroff smirked. "You think Leonard is playing Dark Lord on us?"

"I do not know." Henry admitted with a frown. "He has been relatively silent on his projects."

"He did deliver an acceptable replacement for the Tornado." Emmerson pointed out. "In fact, the Cyclone is actually ready for mass production and I know the ground pounders are chomping at the bit to get them. Tests show that it can more than equalize any ground battle against Zed sized opponents. And with VB-06 and the VHT nearing the end of the testing phase...we now have a solid ground game in case some idiot is crazy enough to launch an invasion of the planet."

Herny smirked as he knew who the idiot was that Emmerson was referring to. The Robotech Masters would be the only race crazy enough to invade Earth. Despite the cryptic warnings of the Invid, Henry doubted they would be a threat anytime soon. "That is good news."

"Another bit of good news is that Doctor Lang feels we can restore the resorources pulled from the Trip back." Roy Fokker grinned at Lisa who had been silent the whole meeting. "Looks like the Big T will be ready sooner than we thought. Any idea why that is Lisa?"

Her cheeks pinkened as she glared at Roy. "I'm sure I have no idea what you are referring too Admiral Fokker. Perhaps the construction teams are more efficient that we thought."

The room laughed at the defensive tone in her voice, knowing full well she had been cracking the whip on the yard dogs and had them concentrating on working from Stern to bow instead of all over the place as was expected. It had kept the construction timeline as close to the estimate as possible and now the newest Fortress was nearing sixty-eight percent completion. Not to mention, Breetai had sent quite a few of his own tech experts and repair crews to lend a hand. They hadn't even thought of that option. Gloval chuckled and turned to the assembled officers, the only one missing was Major General Hunter who was over seeing a wargame exercise with their Zentradi Allies.

"This is all very good news." He smiled warmly. "We have, I think, done the impossible. All of you are to be commended. Our next meeting will be in three months. Until then, keep up the outstanding work."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Leonard looked over the tanks before him, nestled deeply in the Antarctic wasteland. This was the true home of Project ARK. When the Human Race had begun to rebuild their shattered world, the primary database of the World Health Organization had been found relatively intact and had been a God send to them. The computer base had been updated monthly with the DNA sequences of every human on the planet. Taking advantage of what was now being called the Ark of Humanity, Leonard had pushed hard to the council to allow him and his team to begin cloning to help repopulate the world. He had only pulled of a small victory as they absolutely denied his request to clone fully adult humans using the pure templates. However, they had allow him to utilize the stored data to create mixed clones. As far as they knew, he had followed that order. Looking across the room at the tanks before him, he was glad he had the foresight to defy those orders.

He was looking over the ten thousand clones stored in stasis, each one a direct clone and fully matured. When the shit hit the fan, when the Masters arrived, they would be needed. He took one last look before he nodded to himself, his conscious screaming at him. Telling him this was a disgusting tactic and an affront to those who the DNA belonged to. His logical mind slammed down hard on that thought. They could call him a monster, charge him with crimes against humanity. But if this saved just one life, he would live with the consequences. "If I am to be damned to hell for this, I will make sure it is worth it."

* * *

 **A/N: Funny story. Was playing the sims 3 earlier (Don't have 4) and decided to recreate Lisa and Rick. Well, they didn't like each other too much but things went well after they both got Military Careers. Well, deciding to throw a monkey wrench in, just because I thought it would be funny...I created Minmei as well and had her visit the house. Damn near instant cat fight! Was hilarious as I watche her head pop out of the fight scene and Lisa yanked her back down. She one by the way lol. After that, Minmei and Lisa had max dislike so it was pretty funny. I get bored real easy.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello all! Well, after Life did it's best to keep me from writing, I finished this chapter! So, many of you have been guessing it was Azonia I was referring to in command of the crystal fleet. A good guess, but wrong. No, I had another I was planning to use. Anyway, this chapter starts the kick off of the war and I almost missed it because I had fudged up the time line. Now, the new ships mentioned in this chapter, well last chapter I mentioned the Demois Advanced Design Yards, and that is where they came from. I had to look over the ships used by the ASC and found the ships designs there. Now, onto some review replies...**

 **Fer82: Yes it is. He wants to keep humanity alive, but goes to the extremes to do so. Using clones to build up a private army in case it is ever needed, yup. That sounds right up his alley. And Pop having a heart attack, remember, he was in his sixties in the cannon time line when he died. Man is approaching his mid to late seventies in mine, and he wasn't exactly a fit guy. As for Pop finding a lady friend, well...you'll know after this chapter. It's something I had been planning as well.**

 **WarDogRD: No worries man. Thanks for the props. Yeah, I feel the need to keep everything going in the big picture so you guys don't suddenly get lost if I pull a Crazy Ivan or something. And as I said in Alifght, my goal is to present this as realistic and human as possible. Also, I needed to show development for how the characters will ultimately be once all my projects are completed. I've got a time line plan for two more after this one.**

 **sscaldwe: Ah, the ever loyal reader! Yeah, Baker is growing up. As for the fleet, yeah, it's trucking along as in my opinion, the fleet should have been larger with the resources they had. And don't worry, Kazanna will hit..er...meet Breetai again soon enough...after she gets culture exposure from Earth. Trust me, it will be worth the wait as she won't really show up until near the end of this tale, but there will be some scenes as she and her fleet fight the Invid. Gotta remember, in the cannon time line, the war was still going on between the forces of the RoboTech Masters and the Invid.**

 **cjuse1234: How would I even do that? I could name a drop zone like ride Dolza's down fall and an incomplete Coaster Khyron's Revenge. Hmm...you know...that's not a bad idea. Probably fail as a park though lol! And yeah, heard the same thing. Sony has been hinting at either a reboot or a Live Action movie since they bought the rights to RoboTech Last year. Should be interesting.**

 **JayDog75: I actually came up with that crack by Roy and the whole clone thing on the fly. I had intended originally for Leonard to have his own army of fanatics, mentally conditioned to obey with out question (Would you kindly?). And the destructive streaks for the girls? Based those on things my niece has done. She's an evil little terror! But yeah, figured it would be a good idea to set up the challenges.**

 **jag389: Oh you just wait till they become adults and deal with the masters in the next novel in line for my Alight storyline...It'll be epic!**

 **andrewjameswilliams: Well, to be fair to the Masters, they kinda have a right to be cocky assholes. To an extent. Now, don't worry because they won't play too big a role here until the next sequel. And Leonard pulling a palpatine...well, crafty yes, but he isn't out to take over Earth or anything. A case of a man who really does mean well but believes the ends justify the means. Kinda like Dr Halsey and ONI in Halo. And as for the Crystal fleet...well, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **WHCnelson: Thanks. Let me know what you think of this chapter!**

 **FreedomGundamn05: No worries lol. Glad you're liking the stories. And as for Gloval going full Russian...just wait. I've got an idea of him taking a Tomahawk and rasing some serious hell in a later chapter. But as for the timeline, that bugged me as it is a huge gap that was never really filled. Some minor notes about weapon development and a tiny mention of a year long fight with the Crystal fleet, but that's it. I mean, seriously? It took Lisa and Rick almost ten years of dating before Rick goes 'Hey, Marry me?'. Granted, sometimes that does happen but seriously dude, even Rick isn't THAT slow. Two years I can see. But Ten? Nah. Seems fishy.**

 **Alright, onto the chapter. Read, Enjoy, and Review!**

* * *

Chapter 7 Arrival

Rick was eyeing the newest Alpha with a smile on his face. It felt like he had been reunited with a long gone friend. Standing before him, painted in the original Skull colors and shining proudly in the light, was Rick's newest fighter. He let out a low, appreciative whistle as he looked to a smiling Doctor Lang. "She's a beauty Doc. I see you passed on a legacy huh?"

"Not just in name and color General." He gave a knowing smile. "Some of her parts are actually refurbished ones from the first Skull One. The reactor, parts of her air frame, along with the bulk of the displays as well."

Rick slowly looked to the aircraft in awe as he stepped forward and placed a hand over her nose. A gentle thrum could be felt as with a sense of familiarity and Rick had to wipe a tear from his eye before looking back at Emil. "Doc...this is just amazing. Thank you."

Emil raised a hand, still smiling. "No thanks are needed General. The VF-1S was made of extremely high quality parts so it was no issue with reusing them for this one. She'll be moved to New Macross Airfield in three days."

Rick opened his mouth to offer to be the one to fly her to Skull's new home when a twin tone blare sounded. Rick snapped his eyes towards the speaker as it screamed it's message.

"All pilots, to your planes! Unknown ships defolding in Earth Obit! This is not a drill!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa looked over the reports for what was already being called the Pioneer. A name Lisa felt was fitting for it's mission. She was extremely pleased to see that she was almost finished. All that remained was the final out fitting of the hard point weapons and the final transfer of crew and the air wing that would be assigned to the massive ship. Checking over the report one final time, she signed off on the update and placed it in the outbox as the comline from the bridge buzzed. She tapped the button to respond.

"Go ahead bridge."

The voice of Vanessa came through, laced with worry. _"Admiral, we're picking up massive distortions in space. Radiation shifts look like a defold starting."_

Lisa's eyes hardened before she rose from her chair, grabbing her uniform jacket in one smooth motion. "I'm on my way to the bridge now. Set Condition one throughout the ship."

Lisa barely left her office before the alert sirens screamed to life and crew began darting to their stations, some looking confused as they were only contractors hired on for construction of the Pioneer. Slipping between a pair of Marines taking position outside of the Bridge, Lisa immediately made her way to the Captain's chair. She gracefully took her place as techs and young officers readied their own stations. "Report."

"Admiral, we have a confirmed Defold in progress." Vanessa reported grimly as her eyes never left her display. "I can't get a solid read on the numbers, but computer estimates put it at near two thousand."

"Alert all fleet assets." She barked. "And get me Admiral Fokker! Now!"

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Roy glared at the pile of paperwork, hoping beyond hope it would simply ignite and burn to cinders, but knew his luck wasn't that great. Hell, there was a greater chance of a hostile fleet folding right into Earth Orbit. Hours later, he'd kick himself for thinking that. Sighing he leaned back in his chair before the alert sirens in Monument flared to life with a shrill scream in the calm air. Rising quickly from his chair, he stood before the large floor to ceiling window and caught sight of Alphas and Valkyries that hadn't yet been phased out taking to the sky. The communications system he had in his office flared to life and he turned to see Lisa looking at him with a scowl. "Report Admiral."

 _"We've detected a massive defold in progress just past the moon."_ She began with out wasting time. _"Computers are revising the numbers, but we are looking at over two thousand targets."_

"I'll get the ball rolling for an emergency recall for all patrolling forces."

 _"That's not the worst part Roy."_ Lisa sighed. _"We are looking at five separate defolds across the system. This looks like an invasion."_

The man's stomach dropped as his mind played back what she had said. If each fold held two thousand plus...well, they had managed to stand before a 4.6 million ship strong fleet. "Understood. We'll initiate Star Struck procedure. In the mean, form your ships in lunar orbit and stand by to repel hostile forces."

 _"Understood. We'll give them hell. Hayes out."_

The image snapped off and Roy ran a hand through his graying hair His gut instinct told him this would be a harder fight than Dolza. He had no idea just how much this would cost them.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"My lady. We have completed Defold." The navigator reported.

The woman nodded and eyed the central display as the micornian ships began to take position nearest the sole moon that hung over their miserable world. Her display blazed as it highlighted all ships in the system and her eyes fell on one. The Great Traitor's own ship. "Initiate wide beam broadcast. I wish every one of them to hear my words before they are burned to embers."

The communications officer tapped a few controls before he nodded to her. She grinned ferally as she spoke. "Greetings to all Micronians and their traitorous Zentradi allies."

The officer nodded and tapped the required commands before she saw the screen flare to life.

"I am Commander Miriya Paraina of the Crystal Fleet. You have committed an act of war against my people with the murder of Supreme Commander Dolza. Prepare to die."

-x0x-x0x-x0x

"What the hell?!" Roy stammered before turning his eyes to Miriya Sterling.

The woman was just staring in surprise at the screen, unable to speak as she looked at her doppelganger on the main display. Exedore himself was surprised but his surprised expression quickly became one of thoughtful contemplation as he eyed to woman before him. A few moments later, a deep voice belonging to Commander Breetai came over the general hail.

 _"Commander, you are ordered to stand down. Much has changed since you left our space."_

 _"Indeed Traitor."_ The Miriya double sneered. _"Khyron informed me of what has transpired. That these micronians have turned you into pets. That you were brainwashed willing to follow with out question. You have shamed all Zentradi. It is a shame Breetai, as you were one of the best."_

The channel closed and the room fell into silence as Roy looked between the now dark display and Miriya before Exedore sighed. "This does not bode well."

"You think?" Roy snapped, turning to the Zentradi. "How are there two Miriyas?"

"I can answer that Admiral." Said woman gave him a grim look. "When the Crystal Fleet went missing, the decision was made to clone the next batch. She was my predecessor and much more vicious."

"Indeed. We had thought the fleet lost." Exedore looked to Roy with a serious expression. "And if that is the case, I shudder to think of who else may still be alive."

Roy growled in annoyance. "We can't catch a break can we? Bring all defensive systems on line. Targets are approaching hostile fleet. Signal Admiral Hunter she is clear to engage at her discretion."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Weapons are at full charge. All missile tubes have active target locks Captain Grant."

Claudia looked around the command center for the _Salvation_ as her crew rushed to their stations. Before them, two thousand, five hundred and eleven enemy warships were baring down on their small fleet of one hundred and fifty ships. Lopsided odds to be sure, but they had weathered worse. She took a breath and reminded herself not to get cocky. Should they engage with the arrogant thought they could win this, they'd end up as space dust. "Time to enemy intercept?"

The Helmsman, a young woman in her early twenties with red hair eyed her console before she replied.

"Ninety seconds for extended soft lock all primary batteries." She paused and checked the second display. "Missiles have achieved hard lock for max range."

"All we need now is the word to let loose Hell itself." Claudia muttered as she settled into her command chair and eyed the tactical display. "Stay on your toes people. This isn't going to be fun."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Admiral Lisa Hunter eyed the display with a calm gaze. "All ships, form staggered line. Fighters, stand by to engage single ships."

In space, the massive bulk of the still incomplete SDF-3 slid elogently into her place at the center of the fleet lines, flanked on her starboard by Breetai's massive Flagship and the _Salvation_ on her port. Human and Zentradi warships moved into their positons by squadrons and fighters swam between the mighty ships, looking like angry bee swarms as they readied themselves to combat this new enemy. From her place in the command center, Lisa took a deep breath as she sent a silent prayer to her husband and daughter still on Earth. "Contact Colonel Sterling."

The com display was silent for only moments before the angered face of Max appeared, his eyed hardened chips.

"I know what you are going to ask Admiral." He stated bluntly. "No matter who is in command of that fleet, my family is on Earth and this bitch just threatened them. She will burn."

Lisa was taken aback by the venom in Max's words. In all the years she had known him, he'd never been this angry. She gave a tight nod as she replied. "I know Max. Are your birds ready?"

"Yes ma'am. Vermilion is ready to engage once the word is given."

"Admiral!" Vanessa called from her place at the operations console. "Enemy ships have launched fighters and pods!"

Lisa looked directly at Max, the CAG for the SDF-3 and gave a determined look. "Colonel, the word is given."

The panel snapped off and Lisa hit the fleet wide com button as the final few seconds ticked by before the weapons board glared a fierce green from the few guns they had.

"All ships. Open fire!"

The massive bow the of the SDF-3 split wide and began to glow a hellish blue as the primary energy capacitors filled to the brim with primal energy. Thankfully for the mighty ship, the one thing that had been pushed for completion as soon as possible was her reflex cannon. The beam of raw power seemed to explode forward, blooming outward from the bow and tightening into a farce blue white colored beam that slammed into the forward elements of the enemy lines. Capital ships melted under the powerful onslaught, the targeted ship breaking apart the moment the beam made contact and it continued traveling deep into the heart of the fleet. Six enemy destroyers, engines blazing magenta, placed themselves in between the ultimate target and the SDF-3, the flagship, and soaked up the blasts from the beams. The beam cut off and a swath of destruction and death showed in the hole filled with burning debris. The rest of the fleet was not silent as railgun rounds, particle beams, and missiles poured from the over one thousand ship strong allied fleet. Enemy ships took the damage, some spinning out of formation from the sheer force of kinetic impacts, hulls alight with flames from plasma fire and smoke spewing from breaches. The vast bulk of the enemy fleet, however, made it through the onslaught only to unleash their own primary weapons. The SDF-3, some incomplete sections on her rear flanks that were still unarmored and open to the vacuum, shuddered under multiple alpha strikes, her second generation barrier systems glowing a deep gold as it fought to repel the enormous amount of energy directed at her.

Other ships were not as lucky. Fifteen Zentradi cruisers spiraled out of formations, some in multiple pieces, others cored stem to stern. Of the human warships, two of the new Ardennes-Class Heavy Destroyers found themselves under the attention of the enemy flagship. Designed as a more slimmed down version of the Tristar, several hulls had been relegated to the conversion program as the Oberths were slowly being phased from service. Lisa glowered as she watched the first of her ships go up in massive balls of fire and debris. Closing her eyes for a moment, she glared harshly at the tactical display.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick was running a final system check on the new Skull One, watching as his status display winked green across the board and the fighter hummed with power. He whispered a silent prayer to his wife and pushed his throttle forward. Rick felt alarm flare into his being as the Alpha darted forward faster than he had anticipated and cut the controls a half inch. Sighing, he shook his head and reminded himself this fighter was not the same as what he was used to as he settled into his chair better, the straps across his body pulled taunt. Thrumming with pent up energy, skull seemed to quiver in anticipation as she lined up on the run way. Glancing to in his mirrors, he spotted Ghost forming up on his six. The com panel snapped on and a grinning Buckshot appeared. _"Good looking girl you got there sir!"_

Rick smirked and gave a nod.

"She sure is." His smirk fell of his face as he became serious. "You three ready?"

Buckshot gave a nod and the panel snapped off, Rick looking skyward as the sky seemed to remain as calm and peaceful as ever. "Here we go."

The Alpha was truly a more powerful bird as she practically leapt off the ground in seconds, screaming up into the blue sky with a loud roar. Rick couldn't keep the small smile off his face. "Hello Sky! I'm coming home!"

Rick spotted a bright flash of light and spun his fighter hard to port and all hell broke loose.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Mitch groaned as he opened his eyes. The sounds of explosions filled the air as the smell of smoke and fire reached him. Hissing in pain, he looked to his right leg to see the jagged gash in his pant leg. I the sky, fighters and pods engaged each other in a deadly dance as Mitch struggled to stand and looked for his granddaughter in panic. They'd met up with Sarah and a few other civilians headed for the shelters, but the idea was scrapped as near one dozen Regults landed and started firing into the crowd that was trying desperately to get to safety. The terror filled cries were cut short as the blasts connected with the civilian crowd. Sarah had made the call to head to the base where they could take shelter. That had went well until they reached the north gate and a wounded Gnerl had slammed hard into the building behind them. Mitch had been thrown hard, holding a screaming Kaylee to his chest and saw black after his head impacted the concrete. Sluggish, Mitch spotted Sarah rushing over to him, her own daughter crying in her arms. A feeling of acceptance filled him as he spotted a now unmanned gun battery after a Pod had strafed the location. He shook his head, pointing towards the base.

"I'm going to man that gun." He held up a hand to silence her, the sounds of battle roaring around them as fighters danced in the skies with deadly precision. "Look, you need cover. I'm not going to make it. Too much blood loss. Take Kaylee and get your asses into the base shelter!"

He staggered to the woman that held his granddaughter and locked his dark blue eyes on her own terror filled brown ones.

"Make sure you keep her safe." The woman nodded as he looked down to Kaylee.

"Grandpa! You're hurt!"

He kissed his Granddaughter's forehead and smiled at her, hating what he was about to do. "I know. I'm going to go get better. You be a good girl for Grandpa, you hear? I'll be watching over you."

The child cried out for him as she seemed to understand just what he was about to do, her little eyes wide and filled with tears. Sarah placed a hand on his shoulder in thanks before the small group headed for the entrance. Mitch took a deep breath and looked skyward as he made his way to the old, but not obsolete guns still used for Anti Fighter duty. "Well Danny boy. Looks like I'll be seeing you soon. Hope you brought the beer."

The old man planted his shoulders against the pads and spun the weapon to face the returning fighters. "See you in hell."

Tracers leapt from the weapon, red hot death biting deep into the lead fighter headed for the group, which spun away in a ball of flames, hitting an apartment building. Mitch didn't even look as he moved the weapon, tracers arcing through the sky and joined by dozens of other streams of fire as they began swatting down fighter after fighter, pod after pod. He knew he made the right choice as the air units that would have strafed them broke off from their assault, buying much needed time for those who could make into the base. He growled as he spotted five Regults appear from around a corner and turned the weapon on them. The first pod shuddered under the intense fire, the canopy glass exploding as the pod fell back onto the ground. Angling the gun, he swept the barrel over each target as they opened fire.

The old man felt a hand on his shoulder as time seemed to slow down. His eyes grew moist as he spotted the beautiful smile of his long dead wife. "Jen?"

The brunette woman gave a sad smile as Mitch's world began to go white.

"It's time to go my love." She looked to the sky as a distinctive White and Black fighter roared over head, guns strafing the pods. "You raised the boys to be great men. And now, now it's time to rest."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

"Rick! That crazy old bastard is manning the guns by the north gate!" Roy screamed into his headpiece. "Get him out of there!"

Feeling his stomach drop, Rick rolled, leveling out and diving on the approaching pods at the north gate. He watched as the gun took out one of the pods before the others fired as one on the gun location.

"POP! NO!" Rick screamed as he watched the rounds connect with the weapon mount, the explosion telling Rick what he dreaded. Screaming in fury, he strafed the enemy pods before slamming down hard on his rudder peddle, sending Skull One almost somersaulting as she shifted to her battloid mode. With pure rage and pain, Skull One planted her feet onto the side of near by building and kicked off, shattering the wall from the power behind the leap. Gun in hand, the barrel strobbed as Skull One swooped down on her prey for vengeance. The nearest pod exploded in a massive fireball as the core took a particle gun burst into it. Not even pausing, Skull one landed with a roll, slamming her shoulder as she came up into the second one before she spun and fired directly into the back of a pod that had made the mistake of turning too slow. The smoking pod began to shudder before Skull One planted her foot it it's back, sending it crashing to the ground.

Pure rage filled Rick as he struck out, fist connecting with a pod that had been trying to leap over him, The blow sent the Pod tumbling end over end before it slammed into the ground. Wasting no time, the barrel of the gun pod leveled on the crashed Regult and a stream of particle bursts tore through the armor as if it didn't exist, killing to pilot in moments. The final pod braced itself and opened up with laser fire. Skull One twisted from the impacts before she straightened and seemed to glare harshly at the pod before destroying the last pod. Panting, Rick, looked skyward as what seemed to be fifteen enemy fighters and pods baring down on him. Snarling, he triggered his missile system and Skull One disappeared behind a massive plume of smoke and fire as near two dozen missiles screamed into the air and catching the incoming force with deadly accuracy. The sky let up in flames and explosions as debris rained down over the destroyed street.

Silence reigned as the General looked to the burning gun mount, hot tears streaming down his face. His words, full of pain, came out as a whisper. "I'm sorry I wasn't quicker Pop."

He felt as if someone squeezed his shoulder as a familiar voice whispered into his ear.

"It was my choice son. I'm proud of you."

Rick wiped his eyes and turned his greif filled eyes back to the air battle ragging over head.

"I'll make sure they pay Pop." Knowing that he would grieve later, Rick shoved his throttle forward and shifted modes back to fighter, screaming into the sky and rejoining the fight.

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Lisa grit her teeth as the SDF-3 shook again. They lost thirty-two ships, mostly Oberths, but several Tristars had fallen as well. Two ARMD had joined on the flank of the SDF-3, their point defense guns blazing as the charged forth, wiping out dozens of enemy fighter squadrons. The battle was slowly swinging out of their favor as Breetai's ships were being targeted over Lisa's own small fleet and staggering numbers of Zentradi pods and capital ships had been lost.

"Admiral! New contacts folding in!"

Her eyes darted to the display and her stomach dropped. One thousand more enemy ships had arrived, but instead of folding with the rest of the enemy fleet, they'd come out of hyperspace behind them. They were trapped between two thousand ships and were destroying the HAMMER and AGIES defense satillites. She clenched her fists tightly as Roy's greif filled face appeared on screen. Lisa knew something was wrong as a few tears fell down his face. "Roy, we're getting slaughtered up here."

"I know." His voice was soft. "Same down here. I'm giving you a direct order to rally at Mars. The rest of the fleet will meet you there."

"What?" She could not believe what she had heard. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Lisa. We can't hold orbital positions any longer." His voice was firm. "Maistroff is dead. So is Chase. And the ground game here is going bad. We...we lost Pop."

Lisa felt like someone had struck her with a hammer to the chest as her eyes widened, tears filling them as Roy's words struck. "Kaylee?"

"She's here with me in the command center." He assured her, wiping his eyes. "Zeds hit the shelters here in Monument. We're pulling back to Monument."

Her heart clenched painfully as she realized just what going to Mars would mean. She would be separated from her husband and daughter for who knew how long. She knew Ben and Max would be climbing the walls to get back. She almost told him no until the more Military aspect of her personality flared to life. "Yes sir. We'll rally at Mars. But we're coming back. You keep my daughter safe or I'll kill you myself old man."

"I don't doubt it. Godspeed Admiral."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Rick cursed as he pulled back hard, missing the building by less than a foot. The trailing Gnerl wasn't as lucky and buried itself into the structure. His com flared to life as Roy's face appeared on screen.

"Rick, we're pulling back. Haul ass to New Macross."

"What about the fleet?" He asked, desperately hoping Lisa was okay.

"The survivors are rallying at Mars. Lisa's already running the gaunlet with what's left."

Rick swallowed hard as he swung around to form with the few fighter squadrons trying to pull out of the fight. "How bad are we hurt?"

"It's not pretty. Sixty percent of our fighters in the air are gone. Fleets got hit back and Maistroff is dead so is Admiral Chase over Venus." He answered quickly. "Look, just get your ass to New Macross. Warmasters are keeping the enemy fighters at bay. I'll see you there and so will Kaylee."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Colonel Rico Porter grinned viciously as he mashed his trigger and dozens of missiles soared from the launchers on his Phalank's shoulders. To his left, one of the new VB-06 Konig Monsters let loose it's 320mm railguns at the Loyalist Frigate. Rico smirked as he saw the rounds hit something vital and the engine block exploded before the Frigate began falling from the sky. He checked his display once more and scowled. "Head Hunter, I'm empty on Missiles."

The face of Admiral Gloval, who had adopted the call sign of Head Hunter, appeared on screen, his face set in a grim mask.

"RTB and rearm." The man ordered with out pause as his eyes darted to the main tactical screen. "We have survivors from Monument on the way. It is going to be a long day my friend."

Rico nodded before triggering his laser mounts and skewering an annoying Gnerl. "Indeed it will be."

-x0x-x0x-x0x-

Colonel Leonard frowned as he looked over his display. Monument was gone. That much was guaranteed. And New Macross was being laid siege to as the Old Girl showed her teeth. Having rebuilt the main guns and applying the upgrades to her, they'd managed to keep away the worst of the enemy assault, but Leonard knew it wouldn't hold long as the power systems on the Old Girl weren't even close to being up to one hundred percent. Last he had heard, she was operating on emergency power as her Aux stores were sapped from the opening shots when the Zeds snuck nearly two dozen destroyers and capital ships in from the hole in the defense grid. Sighing, Anatole looked to the tech nearest to him. "Launch our forces."

Over the Antarctic wasteland, four long stretches of snow parted, each nearly five kilometers in length, and thousands of VF-4, VB-06 in bomber mode, and dozens of Geneva-Class and Nelson-class cruisers lifted from the hidden cradles. Colonel Leonard watched, impassively, as the small Fleet headed towards New Macross to help bolster the defenses. He knew there would be hell to pay later, but right now, they had a war to fight and he'd be damned if he let something like morals stop them from surviving. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war."


End file.
